# 


»«T ™ 


THE 


RBCTOR  OR  THK  CATHOLIC  UNIVERSITY  OP  LOUVAIN 

REVISED,  ENLARGED  AND  EDITED 

BY 

CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

WITH  A  CHAPTER 
BY 

MOST  REV.  P.  J.  RYAN,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

* 

THOMAS  J.  FLYNN  &  COMPANY 
62  and  64  Essex  Street,  Boston 


IFUbtl  ©bstat. 

REMIGIUS  LAFORT,  S.T.L. 

Censor 

imprimatur* 

JOHN  M.  FARLEY,  D.D. 

Archbishop  of  New  York 

New  York,  October  25,  1909 


Copyright,  1909, 


BY  THE 


CONGREGATION  OF  THE  MISSION  OF 
ST.  VINCENT  De  PAUL, 


IN 

Springfield,  Mass. 


PREFACE. 


#7  Uto 
J 2  S~ 


fT  is  useless  to  deny  the  fact  that  in  Chris¬ 
tian  communities  many  men  are  to  be 
found  who  no  longer  believe  in  Chris¬ 
tianity.  Many  even,  not  content  with  rejecting 
the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  go  on  to  deny  God ; 
or  if  they  do  not  deny  him  in  express  terms, 
their  idea  of  him  is  radically  false,  and  they 
seek  to  place  upon  the  altar  of  the  living  God, 
the  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  a  philosophical 
idol,  ten  thousand  times  more  vain  than  the  idols 
of  wood  and  stone  to  which  pagan  nations  of¬ 
fered  incense.  Whence  comes  this  infidelity? 
According  to  those  who  pride  themselves  on  be¬ 
ing  philosophers  or  critics,  the  denial  of  Chris¬ 
tianity,  or  even  of  a  personal  and  living  God, 
is  dictated  by  science  and  reason ;  it  is,  they 
say,  the  natural  and  legitimate  fruit  of  intel¬ 
lectual  progress;  rationalists,  spiritualists,  ma¬ 
terialists,  atheists,  pantheists,  sceptics  of  every 
kind,  all  alike  appeal  to  science  and  reason  to 
justify  their  belief  or  their  doubts  in  the 
eyes  of  the  public,  and  even  apparently  to  their 

own  conscience.  I  willingly  bear  this  testi- 

•  •  • 

111 


IV 


Preface. 


mony  to  learned  unbelievers  of  every  shade,  that 
they  can  shelter  their  infidelity  under  the  finest 
and  noblest  pretexts.  I  have  no  intention  here 
to  examine  or  discuss  those  scientific  and  philo¬ 
sophical  pretexts  which  they  call  decisive  and 
unanswerable  reasons.  This  has  been  done  else¬ 
where,*  and  Catholic  writers  continue  to  do  so 
daily  with  the  authority  which  belongs  to  true 
learning.  I  am  now  going  to  attempt  another 
method. 

I  have  often  reflected,  sometimes  with  won¬ 
der,  always  with  sadness,  on  the  phenomenon  of 
infidelity  in  the  midst  of  the  light  of  Chris¬ 
tianity.  I  have  frequently  asked  myself,  in  the 
sincerity  of  my  heart,  why  so  many  men — many’ 
of  whom  are  noble-minded,  serious,  learned — 
reject  the^  teaching  of  the  Catholic  Church — the 
organ  and  representative  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  upon  earth — why  certain  minds,  rather 
than  submit  to  the  authority  of  the  Church,  will 
descend  to  a  total  denial  of  the  moral  and  re¬ 
ligious  order,  and  even  to  universal  doubt.  In 
this  fact  there  is  certainly  matter  for  psychologi¬ 
cal  and  moral  study  of  high  importance  and 
melancholy  interest.  I  know  very  well  that  in 
the  eyes  of  infidels  this  fact  appears  the  simplest 
and  most  natural  thing  in  the  world ;  I  know 
that  they  affect  to  place  their  infidelity  under 

*  See  “Our  Christian  Heritage,”  also  “The  Faith  of  Our 
Fathers,”  by  Cardinal  Gibbons. 


Preface.  v 

the  direct  and  exclusive  patronage  of  science 
and  philosophy ;  but  I  am  convinced  that  science 
and  philosophy  are  in  no  way  interested  in  the 
hostile  or  indifferent  attitude  which  they  as¬ 
sume  toward  the  Christian  faith.  Christians 
have  always  possessed,  and  still,  thank  God, 
possess,  as  large  a  measure  of  science  and  phi¬ 
losophy  as  infidels.  Infidelity  depends  on  other 
causes.  What  these  causes  are  I  propose  now 
to  make  the  object  of  my  inquiry.  I  cannot 
hope  to  bring  to  light  all  the  real  causes  of  in¬ 
fidelity;  there  are  some  which  necessarily  es¬ 
cape  the  eye  of  the  observer,  however  attentive 
he  may  be ;  there  are  mysteries  in  the  depths  of 
the  human  soul  which  the  eye  of  God  alone  can 
penetrate.  But  it  is  easy  for  any  one  who  has 
had  an  opportunity  of  closely  observing  believ¬ 
ers  and  unbelievers,  and  of  studying  their  his¬ 
tory,  to  recognize  the  principal  and  ordinary 
causes  of  infidelity. 

This  work  will  be  divided  into  two  parts,  one 
historical,  the  other  critical.  In  the  first  part, 
after  a  few- words  on  the  preaching  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  the  opposite  effects  produced  by  it, 
we  shall  mark,  by  a  few  examples,  the  principal 
phases  of  the  twofold  history  of  the  Christian 
faith,  and  of  unbelief  in  the  bosom  of  Chris¬ 
tianity;  this  history  will  afford  us  valuable  les¬ 
sons  ;  it  will  show  us  how  men  become,  how  they 


VI 


Preface. 


remain,  and  how  they  cease  to  he  Christians. 
We  shall  see,  by  the  experience  of  eighteen  cen¬ 
turies  of  the  human  mind,  whether  the  source 
of  infidelity  can  possibly  be  the  development  of 
reason  and  the  progress  of  intelligence.  In  the 
second  part,  relying  on  the  lessons  of  history  and 
on  psychological  and  moral  observation,  we  shall 
seek  to  unfold  the  real  causes  of  religious  unbe¬ 
lief.  We  shall  begin  by  defining  the  nature  of 
faith  and  the  nature  of  infidelity ;  we  shall  then 
analyze  the  principal  forms  of  contemporary  in¬ 
fidelity,  and  we  shall  seek  to  distinguish  the 
diverse  and  often  complex  conditions  of  the 
soul,  to  which  they  attach  themselves,  or  by 
which  they  are  produced. 

We  trust  that  God  will  make  use  of  these 
pages,  humble  though  they  be,  to  confirm  some 
souls  in  the  happy  possession  of  the  Faith,  and 
to  rescue  others  from  the  corroding  bitterness  of 
doubt,  or  from  the  gloomy,  icy  void  of  unbelief, 
leading  them  back  to  the  bright  and  sweet  re¬ 
pose  which  Christian  faith  alone  can  give. 


NOTICE— SECOND  EDITION. 


HIS  book  has  already  produced  consoling 
41  fruits;  God  has  used  it  as  his  instru- 
v  ment  to  bring  hack  many  wandering 
souls  to  Christian  Faith  and  practice. 

The  Sovereign  Pontiff  had  foretold  this  re¬ 
sult  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  author  a  few 
weeks  after  the  publication  of  this  work.  We 
give  a  translation  of  this  letter. 


LETTER  OF  THE  SOVEREIGN 

PONTIFF. 

Illustrious  and  Reverend  Sir  : 

To  the  more  considerable  works  which  you 
have  already  published  you  have  added  one 
which,  though  small  in  size,  will,  as  its  title 
promises,  prove  of  the  greatest  utility.  For,  as 
in  the  art  of  healing  the  body  its  diseases  are 
treated  with  the  greatest  ease  and  security 
when  their  true  cause  is  known,  so  may  the 
maladies  of  the  soul  be  best  and  most  effectually 

resisted  and  cured  when  their  origin  has  been 

•  • 

VII 


Vlll 


Notice — Second  Edition. 


ascertained.  As  the  plague  of  infidelity,  which 
is  the  principal  evil  of  our  day,  proceeds  either 
from  corruption  of  heart,  or  from  the  languor 
of  religious  feeling,  or  from  the  madness  of 
pride,  to  discover  such  causes  and  to  bring 
them  to  light,  by  tearing  from  them  the  veil 
under  which  they  disguise  their  shameful  de¬ 
formity,  will  assuredly  he  a  powerful  aid  to 
the  minds  of  men  to  reject  these  errors,  and  to 
give  them  also  a  free  access  to  the  truth. 
Therefore  our  most  Holy  Father  especially  ap¬ 
proves  its  design,  and  has  charged  me  to  return 
to  you  his  thanks,  and  to  assure  you  from  him 
that  he  foresees  most  abundant  fruit  from  the 
labor  which  you  have  undertaken,  and,  as  a 
pledge  of  that  success,  to  convey  to  you  his 
Apostolic  Benediction,  which  he  gives  you  with 
the  tenderest  affection. 

Having  had  the  pleasure  of  fulfilling  this 
agreeable  task,  I  offer  you  also  the  expression 
of  my  particular  respect  and  esteem,  and  pray 
God  to  bestow  all  his  favors  upon  you. 

Your  most  humble  and  devoted  servant, 
Franciscus  Mercttrelll, 
Secretary  to  His  Holiness . 


FOREWORD. 


ME  who  possess  the  light  of  Divine  faith 
should  not  censure  too  severely  those 
who  are  deprived  of  that  sublime  gift.  We 
should  rather  assist  them  by  prayer  and  by  try¬ 
ing  to  lead  them  to  a  better  way  of  thinking. 
They  are  not  the  only  ones  to  blame.  The  three 
great  enemies  of  man’s  salvation,  the  world,  the 
flesh,  and  the  devil,  have  much  to  do  with  un¬ 
belief:  “All  that  is  in  the  world  is  the  con¬ 
cupiscence  of  the  flesh,  and  the  concupiscence 
of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life,  which  is  not 
of  the  Father,  but  is  of  the  world”.  (I.  John 
2:16).  This  evil  of  unbelief  is  deeply  seated; 
it  is  largely  traceable  to  the  corruption  of  hu¬ 
man  nature:  “The  earth  was  corrupted  before 
God,  and  was  filled  with  iniquity”.  (Gen.  6: 
11).  We  are  a  fallen  race.  Mankind  fell  from  \ 
the  favor  of  God  by  the  disobedience  of  our  first 
parents  in  transgressing  the  commandment  of 
their  Maker:  (Gen.  3  : 17).  Since  that  day  the 
natural  tendency  of  human  nature  is  towards 
evil :  “The  imagination  and  thought  of  man’s 
heart  are  prone  to  evil  from  his  youth”.  (Gen. 


IX 


X 


Foreword. 


8:21).  We  see  this  principle  in  the  repug¬ 
nance  of  children  to  obey  their  parents ;  in  the 
tendency  of  some  citizens  to  rebel  against  law, 
order  and  authority.  Hence,  on  account  of  this 
corrupt  nature,  we  see  the  inclination  of  some 
persons  towards  dishonesty,  and  of  others 
towards  anger,  revenge,  impurity,  etc.  In  any 
indulgence  of  this  kind  corrupt  nature  im¬ 
agines  that  it  sees  and  enjoys  a  good.  What¬ 
ever  stands  in  the  way  of  the  enjoyment  of  that 
apparent  good  seems  to  corrupted  nature  to  be 
an  evil.  On  this  principle  parents  seem  to  be  an 
evil  standing  in  the  way  of  disobedient  children ; 
the  police  force  and  sheriff,  who  are  the  friends 
and  protectors  of  good  citizens,  seem  to  be  an 
evil  to  the  shoplifter,  the  lascivious  street 
walker,  and  the  keepers  of  houses  of  ill  fame. 
On  the  same  principle,  God,  in  Whom  the  good 
Christian  sees  a  friend,  a  father,  and  a  bene¬ 
factor,  seems  to  be  an  evil  to  the  impure  and 
the  wicked.  How  the  wayward  child,  by  his 
bad  reasoning,  desires  to  get  his  parents  out  of 
the  way,  or  to  be  removed  from  their  influence ; 
the  disorderly  citizen  and  the  train  robber,  by 
their  unwarranted  reasoning,  would  like  to  see 
the  police  and  the  sheriff  meet  with  defeat  or 
destruction,  because  these  officials  stand  in  the 
way  of  their  unruly  desires.  By  the  same 
process  of  bad  reasoning  the  impure  and  the 


Foreword . 


xi 


wicked  desire  to  strike  a  deadly  blow  at  God 
Himself,  and  deny  His  rights  and  even  His 
very  existence,  because  God  and  His  rights  and 
His  commandments  stand  in  the  way  of  their 
bad  lives.  This  is  the  main  principle  under¬ 
lying  much  of  the  unbelief  and  infidelity  of  the 
present  day:  “Men  loved  darkness  rather  than 
the  light,  for  their  works  were  evil.  Tor  every 
one  that  doth  evil  hateth  the  light,  and  cometh 
not  to  the  light,  that  his  works  may  not  be  re¬ 
proved’’.  (John.  3:19).  In  the  eight  Beatitudes 
our  Lord  tells  us :  “Blessed  are  the  clean  of  heart, 
for  they  shall  see  God”.  (Matt.  5:8).  The  un¬ 
clean  of  heart  do  not  perceive  the  ways  of  God, 
His  Providence,  His  goodness,  His  conditions 
of  salvation;  for,  as  St.  Paul  reminds  us,  “The 
sensual  man  perceiveth  not  these  things  that  are 
of  the  Spirit  of  God;  for  it  is  foolishness  to 
him,  and  he  cannot  understand,  because  it  is 
spiritually  examined”.  (I.  Cor.  2:14). 

These  principles  will  be  developed  in  the 
following  pages. 


James  Cardinal  Gibbons. 


TABLE  OF  CONTEXTS 


PART  I. 

PAGE. 


Chap.  I. — The  preaching  of  Jesus  Christ — Some  be¬ 
lieve  our  Lord’s  words ;  others  reject 
them — Whence  arises  this  difference  of 
attitude  and  conduct .  15 

Chap.  II. — The  manner  in  which  the  Christian  Faith 
took  possession  of  the  world — An  exam¬ 
ple  of  the  conversion  of  learned  men  and 
philosophers — St.  Justin .  25 


Chap.  III. — Decisive  triumph  of  Christianity  in  the 
Roman  world — End  of  the  persecutions — 
Constellation  of  great  men  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Church  of  the  fourth  century....  45 

Chap.  IV. — St.  Augustine — His  unbelief  and  his  return 

to  the  Faith .  50 

g  i. — How  Augustine  loses  the  Faith — He  rapidly 
descends  all  the  steps  of  unbelief — He 
falls  into  materialism  and  scepticism.  ...  51 

g  II. — Augustine’s  return  to  the  Faith — He  passes 
through  an  intellectual  and  moral  crisis 
before  his  conversion .  61 

Chap.  V. — The  Christian  Faith  of  the  Middle  Ages — 

It  is  paramount  in  society  and  governs 
men  of, high  intellect  as  well  as  the  com¬ 
mon  people — Was  this  a  blind  Faith?...  75 

Chap.  VI. — Protestantism  and  reason .  91 

g  I. — Primitive  Protestantism — Age  of  Leo  X. — 

The  real  doctrines  of  Luther  and  his  ac¬ 
complices — Denial  of  reason  and  liberty 
— War  declared  against  science — Imme¬ 
diate  effects  of  these  doctrines .  95 

$  II. — The  negative  principle  of  Protestantism,  or 
the  rejection  of  authority  in  matters 
of  religion — Fanaticism  and  rationalism 
the  twofold  fruit  of  this  principle .  110 

•  •  • 

Xlll 


Contents 


PAGE. 

Chap.  VII. — Modern  unbelief — Infidelity  prevails  first  in 
England,  afterward  in  France  and  Ger¬ 
many — Poverty  of  the  infidel  philosophy 
of  the  eighteenth  century — Theological 
infidelity  in  Germany .  116 

Chap.  VIII. — The  principal  forms  of  contemporary  unbe¬ 
lief — Materialism — Pantheism — Sophistry 
and  Scepticism — Spiritual  Rationalism..  129 


PART  II. 

Chap.  I. — What  Faith  is . .  145 

Chap.  II. — Unbelief:  In  what  it  consists .  165 


Chap.  TII. — It  is  impossible  to  attribute  the  unbelief  of 
the  present  day  to  the  progress  of  rea¬ 
son  and  science — Numerous  conversions 
among  learned  men — Augustin  Thierry 
and  Maine  de  Biran .  171 

Chap.  IV. — Real  causes  of  unbelief — First  cause  ;  Ig¬ 
norance  of  religion .  190 

Chap.  V. — Causes  of  religious  ignorance — It  is  often 
voluntary,  culpable  ignorance — Levity 
and  moral  indifference  of  most  infidels..  203 

Chap.  VI. — Materialism — On  what  it  rests — The  soul 
materialized — How  the  soul  arrives  at 
this  state,  and  what  moral  treatment 
must  be  followed  to  raise  it  from  this 
degradation  . 212 

Chap.  VII. — Scepticism — In  what  it  consists — Different 

causes  of  scepticism .  225 

Chap.  VIII. — Corruption  of  the  understanding — Sophistry 

and  its  victim's .  241 

Chap.  IX. — Unbelievers  who  admit  the  fundamental 
principles  of  natural  religion — Causes  of 
their  unbelief .  247 

Chap.  X. — Recapitulation  of  the  causes  of  unbelief — 

How  a  young  man  may  become  an  infidel  259 

Chap.  XI. — Paganism  under  a  new  name — A  fatal  error 
— In  the  hour  of  affliction — Paganism 
under  another  name .  269 


The 

Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 


PART  I. 


CHAPTEK  L 

The  'preaching  of  Jesus  Christ — Some  believe 
our  Lord's  words,  others  reject  them — 
Whence  arises  this  difference  of  attitude  and 
conduct. 


HE  parable  of  Lazarus  and  tbe  rich  man, 
Lw  recorded  by  St.  Luke,  contains  a  pas¬ 
sage  which,  at  the  first  glance,  claims 
especial  attention.  A  rich  voluptuary,  without 
compassion  for  the  sufferings  of  the  poor,  dies, 
and  is  condemned  to  the  torments  of  hell; 
whilst  Lazarus,  who  had  lived  in  extreme  pov¬ 
erty  and  affliction,  is  carried  by  Angels  to  the 
bosom  of  Abraham,  the  father  of  the  faithful. 
The  rich  man,  seeing  himself  hopelessly  lost, 
implores  Abraham  to  send  Lazarus  upon  earth, 

15 


16  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

to  enlighten  and  undeceive  his  brethren,  who, 
like  himself,  were  living  in  opulence  and  pre¬ 
paring  for  themselves  a  similar  eternity  of  woe. 
Abraham  thus  answers  this  unhappy  victim  of 
wealth:  “Your  brethren  have  Moses  and  the 
Prophets;  let  them  hear  them.”  “Yo,  father 
Abraham,”  replies  this  miserable  reprobate ; 
“but  if  one  went  to  them  from  the  dead,  they 
will  do  penance.”  Abraham  said  unto  him,  “If 
they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  Prophets,  neither 
will  they  believe  if  one  rise  again  from  the 
dead.”*  The  history  of  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel,  the  whole  history  of  Christianity,  bears 
unanswerable  testimony  to  the  profound  truth 
of  the  judgment  which  our  Lord  puts  into  the 
mouth  of  Abraham.  People  .are  apt  to  imagine 
that  a  striking  miracle,  performed  under  such 
circumstances  as  ought  to  banish  doubt  from 
any  reasonable  mind,  must  overcome  opposition 
and  silence  contradiction.  Put  this  is  a  grave 
error  which  experience  condemns.  The  ma¬ 
jority  of  men  who,  knowing  Jesus  Christ 
and  his  Church,  believe  not,  would  not  believe 
more  readily  though  one  went  to  them  from  the 
dead.  This  assertion  admits  of  abundant  proof. 

At  the  commencement  of  our  Lord’s  preach¬ 
ing  St.  John  the  Baptist  sent  two  of  his  dis¬ 
ciples  to  ask  if  he  were  the  Messiah  whom  the 


*  SI.  Luke  16  :  19-31. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  17 

world  was  looking  for,  and  Jesus  answered 
them:  “Go  and  relate  to  John  what  you  have 
heard  and  seen:  the  blind  see,  the  lame  walk, 
the  lepers  are  cleansed,  the  deaf  hear,  the  dead 
rise  again,  the  poor  have  the  Gospel  preached 
>  to  them.  And  blessed  is  he  that  shall  not  he 
*  scandalized  in  me.”*  Such  were  the  wonders 
daily  performed  by  Jesus  Christ;  each  of  his 
steps  was,  so  to  speak,  marked  by  a  miracle ;  he 
exercised  absolute  sovereignty  over  all  nature ; 
nothing  resisted  his  voice;  he  called  forth  the 
dead  from  the  grave  with  the  same  ease  with 
which  he  gave  sight  to  the  blind  or  calmed  the 
angry  waves.  His  doctrine,  his  life,  his  moral 
character,  were  equal  to  his  power.  Hever  man 
spake  as  he  did.  His  lessons  infinitely  sur¬ 
passed  those  of  all  the  wise  men  who  had  pre¬ 
ceded  him ;  and  men  asked  in  amazement 
whence  came  this  sublime  wisdom  to  a  man 
who  had  not  followed  the  teaching  of  any  mas¬ 
ter.  AVhat  life  was  ever  to  be  compared  to  his 
in  dignity,  in  moral  grandeur,  in  modesty,  good¬ 
ness,  unselfishness,  in  devotion  to  duty !  He 
presented  the  ideal  of  moral  perfection  to  the 
eyes  of  all  men. 

Such  is  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Gospel  narrative 
shows  him  to  us,  such  as  he  revealed  himself  to 
the  Jews  when  he  presented  himself  to  them  as 

*  St.  Matthew  11 :  4-7. 


2 


18 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 


the  expected  Messiah,  as  the  only  Son  of  God, 
as  the  Word  made  flesh  for  the  salvation  of  men. 

And  how  was  he  received  ?  What  effect  did 
this  threefold  and  incomparable  miracle  of  the 
power,  the  doctrine,  and  the  life  of  Jesus  pro¬ 
duce  upon  the  Jews  ?  We  have  just  heard  these 
astounding  words  uttered  by  his  own  lips  to  the 
disciples  of  John:  “Blessed  is  he  that  shall  not 
be  scandalized  in  me.”  And  in  fact,  he  was  and 
still  remains  a  subject  of  scandal  to  the  greater 
part  of  mankind.  His  contemporaries  who  saw 
and  heard  him  were  divided  into  two  or  three 
different  categories  with  regard  to  him:  some 
believed  in  him,  others  were  indifferent  and  ap; 
peared  to  take  no  heed  either  of  his  wTorks  or 
his  person ;  many  pursued  him  with  implacable 
hatred.  What  happened  after  the  raising  of 
Lazarus?  That  was  a  glorious  miracle,  mani¬ 
festly  attesting  divine  power.  It  was  a  miracle 
performed  before  the  eyes  of  a  crowd  of  persons 
who  had  flocked  to  the  tomb  of  Lazarus.  They 
knew  that  he  had  been  dead  four  days ;  they  sup¬ 
posed  that  his  body  already  showed  symptoms 
of  decay;*  and  yet,  at  the  command  of  Jesus, 
“Lazarus,  come  forth,”!  he  that  had  been  dead 

*  “Lord,  by  this  time  he  stinketh,  for  he  is  now  of  four 
days.” — John  11 :  39. 

t  When  he  had  said  these  things.  He  cried  with  a  loud 
voice :  Lazarus,  come  forth.  And  presently  he  that  had 

been  dead  came  forth,  bound  feet  and  hands  with  winding 
bands,  and  his  face  was  bound  about  with  a  napkin.  Jesus 
said  to  them :  Loose  him  and  let  him  go.” — Ibid.  43-44. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  19 

rase  immediately  from  the  grave  and  appeared 
full  of  life.  Row  listen  to  the  continuation  of 
the  Gospel  narrative :  “Many,  therefore,  of  the 
Jews  who  were  come  to  Mary  and  Martha,  and 
had  seen  the  things  that  Jesus  did,  believed  in 
him.  But  some  of  them  went  to  the  Pharisees, 
and  told  them  the  things  that  Jesus  had  done. 
The  chief  priests,  therefore,  and  the  Pharisees 
gathered  a  council,  and  said :  What  do  we,  for 
this  man  doest  many  miracles  ?  If  wTe  let  him 
alone  so,  all  will  believe  in  him,  and  the  Romans 
will  come  and  take  away  our  place  and  nation.”* 
The  chief  of  the  council,  the  high  priest 
Caiphas,  gave  advice  that  Jesus  should  he  sac¬ 
rificed  for  the  safety  of  the  people.  This  ad¬ 
vice  was  adopted  by  his  colleagues,  and  from 
that  moment  the  elders  of  the  nation  sought  to 
put  Him  to  death  who  had  restored  Lazarus  to 
life.  R or  was  that  sufficient.  Lazarus  had  be¬ 
come  the  object  of  universal  curiosity,  and  af¬ 
forded  embarrassing  proof  of  the  Almighty 
Power  of  Jesus.  The  chief  priests,  therefore, 
determined  to  put  Lazarus  also  to  death. t 
Thus  did  men  who  were  exclusivelv  devoted 
to  material  interests  receive  such  a  miracle  as 
the  raising  the  dead  to  life*  And  the  same  story 

*  John.  11 :  45-49. 

t  “But  the  chief  priests  thought  to  kill  Lazarus  also ;  be¬ 
cause  many  of  the  Jews  by  reason  of  him  went  away,  and 
believed  in  Jesus.” — John  12 :  10,  11. 


20  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

will  be  repeated  again  and  again  in  the  course 
of  the  preaching  of  Christianity.  To  induce 
men  to  believe  it  is  not  enough  for  the  light  to 
shine  before  their  eyes;  before  all  things  they 
must  have  a  sincere  and  constant  intention  to 
keep  their  eyes  open  and  to  turn  them  in  the 
direction  of  the  light.  The  Gospel  affords  sev¬ 
eral  instances  of  this  moral  phenomenon,  which, 
moreover,  all  of  us  may  observe  in  different  de¬ 
grees,  both  in  ourselves,  and  in  those  around  us. 
The  understanding  does  not  act  alone;  it  is  in 
great  measure  under  the  dominion  of  the  will, 
which  directs  it  and  fixes  its  attention  on  those 
objects  which  are  pleasing  to  itself.  The  truth 
of  this  main  point  of  psychology,  especially  of 
moral  and  religious  psychology,  will  become 
more  evident  as  we  proceed. 

Among  the  eye-witnesses  of  the  raising  of 
Lazarus,  some  beheld  in  this  miracle  a  proof 
of  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ;  but  what  of  the 
rest  ?  Many  of  these  men,  indifferent  to  all 
morality  and  influenced  only  by  their  levity  or 
perhaps  their  cupidity,  hastened  to  report  the 
fact  to  the  Pharisees,  whom  they  knew  to  be  the 
enemies  of  our  Lord.  It  was  impossible  to  deny 
the  miracle,  but  they  shut  their  eyes  to  the  re¬ 
ligious  consequences  which  flowed  from  it ;  they 
sought  to  turn  it  to  their  own  profit  or  to  make 
use  of  it  as  an  instrument  of  their  vengeance. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  21 

The  sacred  historian  relates,  in  another  part 
of  the  Gospel,  that  the  Pharisees,  having  seen 
Jesus  cure  a  man  who  had  a  withered  hand,  im¬ 
mediately  resolved  on  his  destruction.*  Every¬ 
thing  which  our  Lord  did  irritated  them;  the 
more  miracles  lie  performed,  the  more  proofs 
of  His  divinity  He  gave,  the  more  was  their 
hatred  kindled  against  Him,  the  more  did  their 
fury  rage,  the  more  eagerly  did  they  seek  to 
make  away  with  Him. 

We  meet  with  another  class  of  persons  in  the 
Gospel ;  men  wTho  did  not  hate  J esus  Christ  like 
the  Pharisees,  but  who  still  did  not  believe  in 
Him;  men  who  held  aloof,  some  from  fear  of 
compromising  themselves,  others  from  levity  of 
mind  and  indifference  on  matters  of  religion. 
Pilate  affords  us  a  memorable  example  of  this 
culpable  levity  and  this  fatal  indifference  with 
regard  to  all  that  is  of  supreme  importance  to 
man.  We  are  all  familiar  with  the  examination 
which  our  Lord  underwent  at  the  hands  of  this 
wretched  judge,  whose  name  has  become  a  by¬ 
word  for  prevaricating  cowardice,  before  he  was 
delivered  to  the  Jews,  who  clamored  for  his 
death.  The  Divine  Victim,  desirous  to  raise 
the  soul  of  his  judge  above  the  paltry  occupa¬ 
tions  and  interests  of  a  day,  said  to  him,  in  the 
course  of  this  examination,  “I  came  into  the 


*  Matt.  12  :  13,  14. 


22  Causes  arid  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

world  that  I  should  give  testimony  to  the  truth ; 
every  one  that  is  of  the  truth  heareth  my 
voice.”  And  Pilate  said  to  Him:  “What  is 
truth  ?”  This  question  of  surpassing  interest 
was  directly  suggested  by  our  Lord’s  language, 
and  was  about  to  he  answered  by  that  infallible 
Teacher,  hut  Pilate  did  not  wait  for  the 
answer.  Scarcely  had  he  put  the  question  be¬ 
fore  he  left  the  judgment-hall  to  seek  the  ac¬ 
cusers  of  Jesus,  and  thought  no  more  of  inquir¬ 
ing  for  the  truth.*  Here  is  the  type  of  exces¬ 
sive  levity.  What  is  truth?  Men  know  not, 
and  they  do  not  care  to  know.  Por  Pilate,  the 
truth  was  his  rank  as  governor;  all  that  he 
feared  was  to  compromise  his  position.  He  saw 
only  material  interests  in  life ;  riches  and  glory 
absorbed  all  his  thoughts ;  the  moral  world  was 
closed  to  him.  How  should  such  men  as  he  was 
believe  in  the  preaching  of  Jesus  Christ  ? 

Our  Saviour  has  Himself  described  several  of 
the  moral  causes  which  hindered  many  of  His 
contemporaries  from  believing  in  Him.  Pride, 
injustice,  corruption  of  manners,  levity  of  mind, 
these,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  Son  of 
God,  are  the  chief  moral  obstacles  which  close 
the  soul  against  the  entrance  of  his  word. 
“How  can  you  believe,”  said  lie  to  the  proud 
Pharisees,  “who  receive  glory  one  from  another, 

*  “Pilate  said  to  him:  What  is  truth?  And  when  he  had 
said  this  he  went  out  again  to  the  Jews.” — John  18  :  38. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief,  23 

and  the  glory  which  is  from  God  alone  you  do 
not  seek  ?”*  And  elsewhere :  “Light  is  come 
into  the  world,  and  men  loved  darkness  rather 
than  light,  for  their  deeds  were  evil.  For  every 
one  that  doth  evil  hateth  the  light,  and  cometli 
not  to  the  light,  that  his  works  may  not  be  re¬ 
proved.”  f  Are  not  these  the  chief  moral 
causes  of  religious  infidelity  in  every  age  ? 
Jesus  Christ  pointed  out  to  the  Jews,  who  re¬ 
fused  to  receive  His  doctrine,  that  the  root  of 
unbelief  is  in  the  will  rather  than  in  the  un¬ 
derstanding:  “You  will  not  come  to  me,”  said 
lie  to  them.  +  He  was  moved  by  the  disdainful 
and  hostile  attitude  of  the  chief  priests  in  the 
presence  of  the  wonderful  miracles  which  He 
daily  wrought,  to  cry  out  to  God,  Father:  “I 
confess  to  thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and 
earth,  because  thou  hast  hid  these  things  from 
the  wise  and  prudent,  and  hath  revealed  them 
to  little  ones.”  1 1  The  Word  by  whom  the 
world  was  made  voluntarilv  annihilated  Him- 

t J 

self,  as  St.  Paul  says,  in  order  to  restore  man 
ruined  through  pride:  humility  is  the  condi¬ 
tion  of  belief  in  this  God  and  Saviour. 

Again,  Our  Lord,  when  explaining  the  par¬ 
able  of  the  sower,  taught  that  the  cares  and 
riches  and  pleasures  of  this  life  are  thorns 
which  too  often  choke  the  seed  of  faith. § 

*  John  5  :  44.  f  John  3  :  19,  20.  t  John  5  :  40. 

||  Matt.  11 :  25.  §  Luke  8  :  14. 


24  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

Such  are  the  lessons  which  the  teaching  of 
J esus  Christ  presents  to  us  on  the  twofold  ques¬ 
tion  of  faith  and  unbelief.  These  lessons,  which 
call  for  the  consideration  of  every  reflecting 
mind,  are  confirmed  by  the  whole  subsequent 
history  of  Christianity. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 


25 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  manner  in  which  the  Christian  Faith  took 
possession  of  the  world — An  example  of  the 
conversion  of  learned  men  and  philosophers 
— St.  Justin. 

fT  is  not  intended  to  give  even  a  brief  out¬ 
line  of  the  history  of  the  triumph  of 
Christian  teaching.  I  will  only  give  one 
example  to  show  the  manner  in  which  the  new 
faith  took  possession  of  the  loftiest  intellects  of 
the  pagan  world. 

We  know  how  the  mass  of  pagan  society  re¬ 
ceived  the  preachers  of  the  Gospel.  That  so¬ 
ciety  had  become  a  very  sink  of  corruption,  and 
it  defended  itself  with  a  kind  of  frenzy  against 
the  moral  invasion  which  attacked  all  that  it 
loved,  adored,  and  idolized.  For  three  centuries 
the  blood  of  the  disciples  of  J esus  Christ  flowed 
almost  without  intermission.  We  can  with 
difficulty  understand  the  cruelty  manifested 
toward  them  by  the  masters  of  the  Roman 
world. 

The  era  of  public  persecutions  began  with 
Kero.  Tacitus,  who  gives  the  history  of  the 


26  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

first  persecution,  reveals  in  liis  narrative  the 
horror  with  which  the  new  religion  was  re¬ 
garded  by  his  fellow-countrymen. 

A  considerable  part  of  Rome  had  been  de¬ 
stroyed  by  fire,  and  public  rumor  attributed  the 
conflagration  to  the  orders  of  Eero.  “ To  put 
a  stop  to  these  reports,”  says  Tacitus,  “the  Em¬ 
peror  sought  out  criminals — miserable  wretches 
who  were  held  in  abhorrence  for  their  crimes, 
commonly  called  Christians — and  exposed  them 
to  the  most  cruel  torments.  Christ,  from  whom 
they  took  their  name,  had  suffered  under  the 
Procurator,  Pontius  Pilate,*  in  the  reign  of 
Tiberius,  and  his  death  had  repressed  for  the 
time  this  execrable  superstition.  But  the  tor¬ 
rent  soon  broke  forth  anew,  not  only  in  Judea, 
where  it  arose,  but  in  Rome  itself,  the  centre 
where  all  disasters  and  crimes  meet  at  last  and 
assume  increased  dimensions.  Those  who 
openly  avowed  themselves  Christians  were  first 
seized,  and  afterwards,  on  their  deposition, 
vast  multitudes  were  convicted  not  so  much  of 
the  crime  of  setting  fire  to  Rome  as  of  hatred  of 
the  whole  human  race.  Derision  was  added 
to  their  torments ;  some  were  enveloped  in  the 
skins  of  wild  beasts  and  thrown  to  dogs  to  be 
devoured ;  some  were  crucified  ;t  the  bodies  of 

*  “Christ,  the  Founder  of  Christianity,  was  put  to  death  by 
Pontius  Pilate,  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius.” — Tacitus. 

t  St.  Peter,  the  first  Pope,  was  crucified. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  27 

others  were  covered  with  pitch  and  they  were 
made  to  serve  as  torches  to  give  light  at  night. 
ISTero  gave  up  his  own  gardens  for  the  spectacle, 
and  at  the  same  time  opened  the  games  of  the 
circus  where  the  emperor  mingled  with  the  peo¬ 
ple  dressed  as  a  charioteer,  or  taking  part  in  the 
chariot  races.’7* 

Thus  did  the  master  of  the  world  understand 
the  dignity  of  a  sovereign;  thus  far  did  a  so¬ 
ciety  without  compassion  carry  its  contempt  for 
human  life  and  its  hatred  of  Christianity. 

Tacitus  condemns  Christians  on  public  re¬ 
port;  he  knew  nothing  of  them.  One  word  of 
his,  however,  describes  admirably  the  radical 
opposition  between  paganism  and  Christianity: 
This  immense  multitude,  he  says,  was  con¬ 
victed,  not  so  much  of  having  set  lire  to  Rome, 
as  of  hatred  of  the  human  race.  Tacitus  shows 
clearly  enough  that  he  was  convinced  of  the  in¬ 
nocence  of  the  Christians  of  the  conflagration  of 
Rome ;  but  that  they  were  convicted  of  hatred 
of  the  human  race  is  profoundly  true,  though  in 
a  very  different  sense  from  that  intended  by  the 
Roman  historian.  The  disciples  of  a  God  made 
man  through  love  of  men  could  not  hate  men; 
but  they  did  hate  with  a  burning  hatred  all  that 
was  idolized  by  the  foolish  and  corrupt  human 
race  of  whom  Tacitus  speaks,  and  they  were 


•  Annal.  lib.  xv.  n.  xliv. 


28  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

therefore  necessarily  looked  upon  as  its  mortal 
and  irreconcilable  enemies.  The  world  owes  its 
renovation  and  refreshment  to  this  generous 
hatred  of  the  religious  and  social  ideas,  the 
manners  and  customs,  of  a  society  which  was 
rotten  to  the  core. 

The  new  Religion,  born  of  the  sacrifice  of 
the  Cross  and  founded  by  the  Blood  of  Jesus 
Christ,  could  not  be  arrested  in  its  course  by 
the  fury  of  pagan  rulers.  The  Blood  of  Mar¬ 
tyrs  became  the  seed  of  Christianity.  Within 
two  centuries  of  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ,  Ter- 
tullian,  who  had  himself  abjured  the  supersti¬ 
tions  of  heathenism  and  embraced  the  Christian 
Faith,*  feared  not  to  write  thus  to  the  Roman 
proconsuls :  “We  are  but  of  yesterday,  and 
we  already  fill  all  that  belonged  to  you ;  towns, 
islands,  fortresses,  even  camps,  the  troops, 
whether  tribunes  or  decurions,  the  palace,  the 
senate,  the  forum:  we  leave  you  nothing  but 
your  temples.”! 

Christianity,  in  the  first  years  of  the  preach¬ 
ing  of  the  Gospel,  was  recruited  principally 
from  the  ranks  of  the  people,  though  even  in  the 
time  of  the  Apostles  a  certain  number  of  rich 
and  learned  men  were  received  into  its  bosom. 
It  had  pleased  the  Divine  Restorer  of  humanity 
to  call,  in  the  first  instance,  the  little  ones  and 


*  Apol.  xviii. 


t  Apol.  xxxvii.  9. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  29 

the  poor,  the  despised  of  a  carnal  world  which 
adored  only  fortune  and  power.  But  by  de¬ 
grees,  illustrious  sages,  whom  the  pride  of 
knowledge  had  failed  to  intoxicate,  came  to 
swell  the  humble  beginnings  of  Christian  so¬ 
ciety. 

Souls  of  a  higher  order,  who  wTere  in  some 
degree  inflamed  with  the  love  of  what  was  true 
aiid  excellent,  found  themselves  in  a  strange  as 
well  as  painful  position  amid  the  superstitions 
of  idolatry.  All  pagan  religions  had  two  seri¬ 
ous  defects ;  they  were  neither  reasonable  nor 
moral.  They  were  not  religions  in  the  higher 
acceptation  of  the  word.  And  yet  the  human 
soul,  if  not  wholly  debased  by  vice,  is  naturally 
religious,  and  the  mind  turns  instinctively  to 
regions  above  the  world  of  sense.  The  masses, 
who  are  not  in  the  habit  of  reasoning,  and  in 
whom  feeling  and  imagination  preponderate, 
might  perchance  find  sufficient  aliment  in  the 
external  practices  and  numerous  festivals  con¬ 
secrated  by  mythology.  Besides  which  they 
lived  in  a  state  of  moral  ignorance  bordering  on 
stupidity.  But  how  could  men  of  cultivated 
minds,  in  whom  the  moral  sense  was  not  totallv 
extinct,  accept  the  tissue  of  absurd  and  often 
immoral  fables  on  which  the  religious  worship 
of  Greece  and  Borne  rested  ?  I  have  read  most 
of  the  documents  which  antiquity  has  be- 


30  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

queathed  to  us  touching  Grecian  philosophy, 
and  I  do  not  know  of  two  philosophers  who  se¬ 
riously  believed  the  popular  religion.  It  was 
not  possible.  They  rarely  had  the  courage  to 
condemn  it,  and  they  despised  the  lower  orders 
too  much  to  seek  to  free  their  minds  from  the 
monstrous  errors  by  which  they  were  enslaved, 
especially  as  such  a  course  would  have  been 
attended  with  danger;  but,  as  regards  them¬ 
selves,  they  did  not  believe  the  greater  part  (I 
dare  not  say  all)  of  these  extravagant  fictions. 
They  were  well  aware  that  they  must  not  seek 
for  truth  in  the  popular  creed :  they  sought  it  in 
ancient  traditions,  in  the  teaching  of  men  who 
had  been  most  renowned  for  wisdom,  in  their 
own  meditations ;  but  if  they  were  able  to  raise 
themselves  above  the  grosser  errors  of  the  multi¬ 
tude,  they  could  never  attain  to  the  pure  and 
serene  profession  of  truth,  with  regard  to  God, 
with  regard  to  man,  with  regard  to  the  relations 
between  God  and  man ;  and  many  of  them  even 
fell  into  errors  worse  than  the  popular  super¬ 
stitions.  How  sad  was  the  moral  condition  of 
Xenophon,  of  Pythagoras,  Philolaus,  Anaxa¬ 
goras,  of  Socrates,  Plato,  Aristides,  of  Zeno  of 
Cittium,  of  all  those  noble  and  obstinate  seekers 
after  truth  who  have  left  so  honorable  a  trace 
in  the  history  of  philosophy ! 

Christianity  is  the  only  religion  which  has 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  31 

ever  united  in  a  common  faith,  equally  clear, 
complete,  and  steadfast,  the  common  people  and 
philosophers,  the  ignorant  and  the  learned.  It 
affords  a  singular  phenomenon  in  the  annals  of 
humanity. 

As  early  as  the  second  century  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  era  a  great  number  of  eminent  and  culti¬ 
vated  minds  had  embraced  the  Faith  of  Jesus 
Christ.  One  of  them,  the  philosopher  Justin, 
has  left  us  an  account  of  his  conversion.  The 
narrative  is  singularly  instructive.  I  will  re¬ 
late  the  principal  facts,  and  we  shall  learn,  by 
one  memorable  example,  the  way  by  which 
philosophers  arrived  at  the  True  Faith. 

Justin  made  a  profession  of  philosophy,  and 
continued  to  wear  the  philosopher’s  mantle  even 
after  his  conversion  to  Christianity.  He  was 
born  in  Samaria  either  at  the  end  of  the  first  or 
beginning  of  the  second  century.  He  studied 
Creek  literature  with  ardor,  and  his  writings 
attest  that  he  had  attained  a  considerable  de¬ 
gree  of  mental  cultivation.  The  gross  doctrines 
of  paganism  could  not  satisfy  a  serious  and  ele¬ 
vated  mind  such  as  his.  The  thirst  after  truth 
devoured  his  soul.  He  was  prepared  to  seek  it 
at  all  risks,  and  to  follow  it  when  found.  Ho 
tried,  in  the  first  instance,  the  schools  of  phi¬ 
losophy  in  highest  repute;  he  applied  by  turns 
to  stoicism,  to  peripateticism,  to  pythagorism, 


32  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

to  platonism:  “Philosophy,”  said  this  noble 
mind,  “is  truly  a  great  treasure,  of  great  price 
in  the  eyes  of  God  to  whom  it  leads,  and  in 
whose  sight  it  alone  can  make  us  acceptable.”* 
Justin  flattered  himself  that  he  should  be  able 
to  obtain  from  the  most  famous  masters  of  phi¬ 
losophy  clear  answers  to  those  religious  ques¬ 
tions  which  every  soul  not  absolutely  debased 
necessarily  asks  itself.  He  went  from  error  to 
error.  Por  one  moment,  however,  he  thought 
he  had  met  with  the  object  of  his  search.  The 
philosophy  of  Plato,  the  purest  and  most  ele¬ 
vated  of  the  pagan  systems  of  philosophy, 
seemed  at  first  sight  destined  to  give  full  satis¬ 
faction  to  the  religious  cravings  of,  his  mind; 
he  was  transported  with  joy  at  meeting  with 
this  beautiful  system  which  promised  to  unveil 
before  his  eyes  the  realities  of  the  world  of  in¬ 
telligence.  His  pilgrimages  to  the  schools  of 
Pythagoras,  Aristotle  and  Zeno  had  been  futile. 
“I  resolved,”  he  says,  “to  confer  with  the  fol¬ 
lowers  of  Plato  who  are  held  in  high  repute. 
One  of  their  principal  teachers  had  just  arrived 
in  our  city.  I  put  myself  in  communication 
with  him,  and  after  long  conversations  I  found 
myself  daily  making  fresh  progress.  The 
knowledge  of  the  world  of  intelligence  trans- 


*  Dialogue  with  Trypho,  n.  2. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  33 

ported  me  with  joy:  the  theory  of  ideas  gave 
wings  to  my  understanding.*  I  fancied  I  had 
become  learned  in  a  short  time,  and  flattered 
myself  that  I  should  soon  arrive  at  the  contem¬ 
plation  of  God,  which  is  the  aim  and  end  of 
Plato’s  philosophy.”!* 

But  there  are  grave  omissions  and  important 
errors  in  Plato’s  teaching.  Justin  was  some 
time  before  he  perceived  them.  As  yet  he  was 
ignorant  of  the  new  doctrine  whose  light  was 
beginning  to  dissipate  the  darkness  in  which  the 
highest  intellects  vainly  struggled.  He  knew 
that  Christians  existed,  but  he  probably  shared 
the  disdainful  and  hostile  sentiments  of  the  in¬ 
tellectual  men  of  his  time  toward  them.  Still 
he  did  not  believe  in  the  monstrous  and  infa^ 
mous  crimes  which  the  world  at  large  imputed 
to  them,  and  to  which  Tacitus  alludes  in  the  pas¬ 
sage  quoted  above.  “I  also,”  he  says,  “when  I 
was  attached  to  Platonism,  had  heard  of  the 
crimes  imputed  to  Christians;  but  when  I  saw 
them  face  death,  and  all  that  men  are  wont  most 
,  to  dread,  without  fear,  I  could  not  conceive  it 
possible  that  they  passed  their  lives  in  disorder 
and  voluptuousness.  How  was  it  possible  to 
suppose  that  a  man  who  was  a  lover  of  pleas¬ 
ure  and  intemperance,  a  slave  to  the  flesh  and 

•  A  familiar  expression  of  Plato 
t  Dialogue  with  Trypho,  n.  2. 


34  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

worldly  delights,  should  court  death,  which 
would  deprive  him  of  these  goods  ?  Far  from 
running  to  meet  certain  condemnation,  would 
he  not,  on  the  contrary,  conceal  himself  from 
the  vigilance  of  the  magistrates  in  order  to  en¬ 
joy  the  pleasures  of  life  as  long  as  possible  ?”* 

Nothing  could  he  simpler  than  this  reasoning. 
The  generous  philosopher  was  struck  by  the  con¬ 
stancy  of  the  Martyrs;  and  if  he  did  not  yet 
ask  himself  whence  came  this  heroism,  his  rea¬ 
son  was  at  any  rate  free  from  the  absurd  preju¬ 
dices  which  blinded  the  eyes  of  the  multitude. 
Prejudice,  next  to  the  passions,  is  one  of  the 
greatest  obstacles  which  the  Christian  Paith  has 
encountered  in  every  age.  Let  men  once  cast 
off  prejudice  and  sincerely  pursue  the  search 
after  truth,  and  truth  will  not  hide  itself  from 
their  eyes.  It  was  not  long  before  Justin  be¬ 
came  a  Christian.  He  relates  himself,  in  the 
opening  of  his  dialogue  with  the  Jew  Trypho, 
how  he  became  acquainted  with  and  embraced 
Christianity.  He  quickly  passed  from  the 
school  of  Plato  to  the  school  of  J esus  Christ. 

It  happened  that  one  day,  in  order  to  he  able 
to  apply  himself  with  greater  freedom  to  the 
contemplation  of  the  world  of  intellect  to  which 
the  Platonic  philosophy  had  introduced  him,  he 
repaired  to  a  solitary  place  near  the  seashore. 


•  II.  Apol.  n.  12. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  35 

Thither  he  was  followed  by  an  old  man  of  ven¬ 
erable  aspect,  vdiose  countenance  bore  the  im¬ 
pression  both  of  gravity  and  sweetness.  Jus¬ 
tin  stopped  and  could  not  forbear  expressing 
his  astonishment  at  meeting  any  one  in  that 
solitude.*  “I  did  not  expect/7  said  he  to  the 
old  man,  “to  meet  any  one  here.77  “I  am  in 
trouble,77  replied  the  unknown,  “about  some  of 
my  friends  who  are  traveling,  and  I  came  here 
to  see  if  by  chance  they  might  be  visible  in  some 
point  of  the  horizon.  But  what  brings  you  to 
this  solitude  ?77  “As  for  me,  I  take  a  delight  in 
these  rambles,  because,  free  from  all  distraction, 
I  can  here  commune  with  myself  at  my  ease; 
for  solitude  is  eminently  favorable  to  philoso¬ 
phy.77  “Ah!  you  are  one  of  those  who  love 
words  without  troubling  yourself  about  actions 
or  truth,  and  who  neglect  what  is  practical  for 
the  sake  of  vain  speculations.77  Justin  thus  at¬ 
tacked  began  to  speak  in  praise  of  philosophy, 
and  to  extol  it  as  the  necessary  source  of  all 
moral  dignity.  “Does  philosophy  necessarily 
confer  happiness?77  asked  the  old  man.  “Cer¬ 
tainly;  and  philosophy  alone  can  do  so.77  “If 
nothing  forbids  it,  explain  to  me  what  phi¬ 
losophy  is,  and  what  is  that  happiness  of  which 
it  is  the  source.77  “Philosophy,77  replied  Justin, 

*  Justin  must  have  been  at  Ephesus  or  Alexandria.  He 
lived  for  some  time  in  these  two  cities.  He  afterward  settled 
at  Rome,  where  he  founded  a  school. 


36  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

“is  the  science  of  being,  and  the  knowledge  of 
truth;  happiness  is  the  reward  of  this  science 
and  of  this  wisdom.”  This  is,  in  fact,  the 
Platonic  idea  of  philosophy,  and  it  is  a  noble 
and  generous  idea ;  but  it  cannot  be  realized  by 
the  unassisted  power  of  human  reason. 

The  confident  disciple  of  Plato  then  went  on 
to  explain  briefly  to  his  companion  what  was 
the  doctrine  of  his  master  with  regard  to  God 
and  the  soul  of  man.  The  old  man,  versed  in 
the  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ,  pointed  out  to  the 
philosopher  the  weak  points,  the  omissions,  the 
manifest  errors  of  this  doctrine,  remarkable 
though  it  be  in  many  respects ;  and  he  particu¬ 
larly  insisted  on  the  absurdity  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  metempsychosis,  which  Jean  Peynaud, 
Pierre  Leroux,  Laurent,  and  certain  savants 
have  endeavored  to  resuscitate  in  our  days  in 
the  name  of  progress.  J ustin  knew  not  how  to 
answer;  all  his  philosophical  illusions  forsook 
him.  His  mind  was  in  confusion,  and  not 
knowing  how  to  calm  it,  he  cried  out  in  accents 
of  despair,  “To  whom  shall  I  go ;  where  is  truth 
to  be  found  if  not  in  the  teaching  of  these  men 
who  are  the  oracles  of  philosophy  Vy 

Justin’s  companion,  having  clearly  pointed 
out  the  insufficiency  of  philosophy,  proceeded  to 
reassure  him,  and  introduced  him  to  a  far 
higher  school  than  that  of  Plato:  “At  a  dis- 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  37 


tant  period  of  our  history,  long  before  the  time 
of  those  who  pass  for  philosophers,  there  lived 
men  who  were  blessed,  just,  beloved  of  God; 
they  were  inspired  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  fore¬ 
told  future  events,  which  have  been  fulfilled  in 
our  days:  they  are  called  prophets.  These  men 
alone  had  knowledge  of  the  truth,  and  they  an¬ 
nounced  it  to  men  without  weakness  or  fear; 
they  were  strangers  to  any  thought  of  vain  glory, 
and  only  taught  what  the  Holy  Spirit  had  given 
them  to  see  and  hear.  Their  writings  still  ex¬ 
ist  ;  whoever  reads  them  with  faith  will  derive 
from  them  great  profit,  and  will  he  enabled  to 
understand  the  beginning  and  end  of  things, 
and  all  that  a  philosopher  ought  to  know.  They 
do  not  proceed  by  way  of  demonstration;  they 
are  sincere  witnesses  of  the  truth  and  above  all 
demonstration:  the  accomplishment  of  what 
they  announce  compels  us  to  believe  their  words. 
Besides,  the  miracles  they  performed  placed 
their  testimony  above  suspicion.  They  glorified 
God  the  Father,  Creator  of  the  universe,  and 
announced  to  men  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  sent  by 
him.  As  for  you,  before  all  things,  pray  that 
the  gates  of  light  may  be  opened  before  you ; 
for  no  one  can  see  and  understand  these  things 
unless  God  and  his  Christ  give  him  understand- 


*  Dialogue  urtth  Trypho,  n.  7. 


38  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

Prayer!  Philosophy  knew  nothing  of  this 
mode  of  arriving  at  the  knowledge  of  the  truth. 
The  gates  of  faith — faith  which  is  the  true 
moral  and  religious  light — open  of  themselves 
to  prayer;  for  God  is  pleased  to  communicate 
himself  to  the  humble,  and  prayer,  being  the 
acknowledgment  of  our  insufficiency  and  pov¬ 
erty,  is  the  expression  of  humility.  Justin 
soon  experienced  this. 

He  continues  thus :  “When  the  old  man  had 
said  these  things  and  many  more  which  I  can¬ 
not  relate  here,  he  left  me,  recommending  me  to 
meditate  on  what  I  had  heard.  Since  then  I 
have  not  seen  him.  But  my  soul,  inflamed  with 
holy  desire,  longed  ardently  to  become  ac¬ 
quainted  with  the  Prophets  and  those  men  who 
are  the  friends  of  Christ.  Passing  over  in  my 
mind  the  conversation  that  had  taken  place,  I 
found  that  this  was  the  only  certain  and  useful 
philosophy.  Thus  and  for  this  reason  I  am  a 
philosopher.”  Would  that  all  might  follow  the 
same  road,  so  as  not  to  wander  from  the  doctrine 
of  the  Saviour;  for  this  doctrine  possesses  a 
majesty  calculated  to  strike  those  who  have  de¬ 
viated  from  the  right  path,  and  those  who  medi¬ 
tate  on  it  will  find  in  it  rest  full  of  sweetness.* 
Pest  in  a  luminous  and  immovable  certainty; 
this  was  the  end  which  the  restless,  ardent  soul 


*  Dialogue  xoith  Trypho,  n.  8. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  39 

of  the  philosopher  pursued.  The  careful  read¬ 
ing  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  meditation  on 
the  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ,  soon  brought  him 
to  this  happy  end.  Scarcely  had  he  entered  this 
divine  school  than  he  comprehended  that  there 
were  safer  and  more  perfect  masters  than  Pyth¬ 
agoras  and  Plato.  A  new  world  was  unveiled 
before  his  eyes.  He  saw  that  from  the  begin¬ 
ning  God  had  spoken  to  men  by  a  positive  reve¬ 
lation;  that  he  had  afterward  created  a  nation 
expressly  to  preserve,  develop,  and  preach  Re¬ 
vealed  Truth,  and  to  announce  and  prepare  the 
world  for  universal  redemption ;  that  in  the  ful¬ 
ness  of  time  he  had  sent  his  own  Son,  the  Lord 
Jesus,  to  perfect  man’s  education  and  to  accom¬ 
plish  the  great  work  of  his  regeneration. 
What  new  and  magnificent  prospects  for  a  mind 
thirsting  after  knowledge,  and  how  insignifi¬ 
cant  must  the  schools  of  Greece  have  appeared 
to  him  beside  this  grand  school,  visibly  held  and 
governed,  not  by  a  man  of  genius,  but  by  the 
Word  of  God*  in  Person ! 

We,  who  were  born  and  have  grown  up  in  the 
full  light  of  Christianity,  can  with  difficulty 
picture  to  ourselves  the  effect  which  this  sudden 
transition,  from  the  schools  of  Grecian  philoso¬ 
phers  to  the  school  of  the  Word  made  flesh,  pro¬ 
duced  on  pagans  of  pure  and  elevated  character. 
It  was  literally  passing  from  the  darkness  of 


40 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 


night  to  the  light  of  day.  What  deep,  enthusi¬ 
astic  joy  animates  the  meetings  of  these  illustri¬ 
ous  converts !  Charity  kindled  in  their  souls  the 
fire  of  proselytism,  and  they  ardently  desired  to 
bring  all  the  unhappy  victims  of  error  to  partici¬ 
pate  in  the  ineffable  delight  which  they  found 
in  the  Christian  Faith.  What  deep-seated  hap¬ 
piness,  what  ardent  proselytism,  shine  forth  to¬ 
gether  in  that  eloquent  passage  with  which  Jus¬ 
tin,  now  become  the  apologist  of  the  Christian 
religion,  closes  his  discourse  to  the  Greeks : 
“Come,  O  Greeks !  and  participate  in  a  wisdom 
that  is  incomparable !  Instructed  by  a  Divine 
Word,  you  will  become  acquainted  with  a  King 
who  is  not  subject  to  corruption;  with  heroes 
who  have  not  distinguished  themselves  from  the 
rest  of  their  fellows  by  their  crimes.  The  Di¬ 
vine  Word  who  is  our  head  does  not  desire  in 
us  strength  of  body,  nor  beauty  of  form,  nor 
nobility  of  birth;  but  a  pure  mind  established  in 
holiness,  virtuous  actions  by  which  the  world 
may  discern  what  King  we  serve.  It  is  by  the 
Word  that  a  secret  virtue  penetrates  the  soul. 
A  celestial  herald !  announcing  peace  to  the  soul 
convulsed  by  war !  Salutary  messenger !  extin¬ 
guishing  the  fire  of  the  passions !  .  .  .  Draw 
near  then,  O  Greeks !  suffer  yourselves  to  be  in¬ 
structed.  Become  such  as  I  am,  for  I  also  have 
been  as  you  now  are.  The  Divine  virtue  of  the 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  41 

doctrine  and  power  of  the  Word  triumphed  over 
me.  Like  the  skilful  enchanter  who  draws 
from  his  lurking-place  the  serpent  he  would  put 
to  flight,  the  Word  banishes  sensual  pleasures 
from  the  depths  of  the  soul;  first  covetousness, 
from  which  spring  the  evils  most  to  be  feared, 
enmities,  dissensions,  envy,  jealousy,  anger,  and 
all  that  resembles  them.  Let  covetousness  once 
be  drawn  from  the  breast,  and  the  soul  recovers 
peace  and  security.  All  things  necessarily  re¬ 
turn  to  their  place  of  origin  and  point  of  de¬ 
parture;  therefore,  when  the  soul  is  delivered 
from  the  vices  which  make  war  against  it,  it 
returns  of  its  own  accord  to  its  Creator.”* 

The  teaching  of  the  Word  made  flesh  worked 
at  once  a  moral  and  intellectual  revolution  in  the 
soul.  It  was,  according  to  St.  Paul’s  words,  the 
renovation  of  the  whole  man,  nova  creatura. 

The  manner  in  which  the  philosopher  Justin 

arrived  at  the  Christian  Faith  must  arrest  the 

/ 

attention  of  the  observer.  From  the  moment 
that  the  tr.ue  idea  of  God,  as  the  Creator  of  the 
world  and  the  beginning  and  last  end  of  man, 
took  possession  of  his  mind,  he  was  won  over 
to  Christianity.  We  gather  this  from  the  nar¬ 
rative  of  his  conversion,  and  from  the  general 
bearing  of  his  doctrinal  controversies  against 
paganism.  In  spite  of  his  wanderings  among 


*  Orat.  ad  Grcecos,  n.  5. 


42  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

the  many  schools  of  philosophy,  this  noble  intel¬ 
lect  knew  little  of  the  nature  of  God  and  of  his 
relations  with  the  world ;  and  the  knowledge  of 
God  being  the  true  source  of  the  knowledge  of 
ourselves,  it  followed  that  he  had  little  knowl¬ 
edge  of  man ;  the  nature  of  man,  his  origin  and 
his  end,  and  the  path  to  be  followed  to  attain 
that  end,  were  so  many  enigmas  of  which  the 
answer  was  hidden  from  him.  Christian  doc¬ 
trine,  by  revealing  to  him  the  relations  between 
God  and  finite  creatures,  gave  him  the  key  to 
all  these  problems.  How  could  he  refuse  to  ac¬ 
cept  the  witness  of  Christianity  with  regard  to 
mysteries  of  an  order  above  human  reason, 
when  the  same  teaching  resolved  so  clearly  and 
fully,  and  in  a  manner  so  comformable  with  rea¬ 
son,  those  important  questions,  the  solution  of 
which  he  had  vainly  sought  in  all  the  schools  of 
philosophy  ?  Besides,  he  comprehended  that 
God,  being  the  Creator  and  Bather  of  man, 
must  himself  have  instructed  man  in  that  which 
it  was  of  supreme  importance  for  him  to  know, 
and  must  have  established  upon  earth  some  au¬ 
thority  commissioned  to  maintain  and  teach  the 
True  Religion.  He  had  now  met  with  this  au¬ 
thority,  and  to  it  he  owed  the  solution  of  those 
problems  which  had  hitherto  perplexed  him: 
how  could  he  refuse  to  hear  and  follow  its 
teachings?  Further,  when  a  man  attains  the 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  43 

knowledge  of  God,  when  he  believes  in  his  in¬ 
finite  goodness  and  his  love  for  men,  there  is 
nothing  in  Christianity,  in  spite  of  all  its  mar¬ 
vels,  to  astonish  him.  To  the  grateful  and  en¬ 
raptured  soul  of  the  philosopher,  the  Christian 
Religion  appeared  the  most  glorious,  and  if  I 
may  say,  the  most  natural,  manifestation  of  the 
love  of  God  to  man. 

St.  Justin  sealed  his  belief  in  the  Christian 
Faith  with  his  blood,  about  the  year  168,  after 
having  gloriously  defended  it  in  writings  which 
cannot  be  read  even  in  our  days  without  fervent 
religious  feeling.'* 

In  the  second  century  and  in  the  beginning  of 
the  third,  we  find  many  pagans  distinguished  by 
genius  and  learning  following  the  example  of 
the  philosopher  Justin,  and  bowing  down  their 
reason  before  the  majesty  of  the  Gospel.  Three 
-  of  them  have  left  names  of  especial  celebrity: 
Athenagoras,  Tertullian,  and  Clement  of  Alex¬ 
andria.  We  do  not  know  the  details  of  the  con¬ 
version  of*  these  illustrious  men.  From  this 
time  a  great  number  of  learned  writers  were 
to  he  found  among  Christians.  Besides  those 
we  have  already  named,  it  will  suffice  to  men¬ 
tion  Theophilus  of  Antioch,  Melitus  of  Sardis, 
Saint  Irenseus,  Bishop  of  Lyons,  Pantenus  the 

*  The  Abbd  Freppel,  professor  of  sacred  eloquence  at  the 
Sorbonne,  has  recently  published  a  very  complete  and  valuable 
treatise  on  the  life  of  St.  Justin. 


44  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

master  of  Clement  and  first  teacher  of  the  re¬ 
nowned  Christian  school  of  Alexandria,  Origen, 
Saint  Hippolytus  of  Porto,  Minutius  Felix, 
Saint  Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  and  Saint  Cy¬ 
prian,  Bishop  of  Carthage.  Such  men  as  these 
assuredly  did  not  believe  blindly.  Some  of 
them  have  left  remarkable  works  in  defence  of 
the  Christian  Faith.  The  writings  of  Origen 
on  the  Holy  Scriptures  still  command  the  ad¬ 
miration  of  critics. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 


45 


CHAPTER  III. 


Decisive  triumph  of  Christianity  in  the  Roman 
world — End  of  persecution — Constellation  of 
great  men  in  the  bosom  of  the  Church  of  the 
fourth  century. 


HE  era  of  the  legal  and  public  persecu- 
tions  of  Christianity  which  Nero  had 
opened  was  closed  by  Diocletian  before 
its  social  and  political  importance  was  recog¬ 
nized.  From  Nero  to  Diocletian,  Christianity 
had  not  ceased  to  extend  its  pacific  conquests ; 
it  had  invaded  the  whole  empire,  and  numbered 
a  vast  multitude  of  disciples  of  every  class  even 
in  Rome  itself;  it  had  penetrated  the  highest 
ranks  of  society ;  some  of  the  noblest  citizens  of 
the  empire  sought  refuge  in  its  bosom.  It  had 
become,  therefore,  a  serious  matter,  even  on 
political  grounds,  to  engage  in  a  general  perse¬ 
cution  of  the  Christian  Church.  Rut  Galerius 
Caesar,  whose  cruel  nature  thirsted  for  blood, 
and  who  was  a  prey  to  all  the  superstitions  of 
paganism,  urged  Diocletian  to  pursue  rigorous 
measures.  The  emperor  made  a  long  resistance, 


46  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief, 

but  at  length,  after  having  taken  the  advice  of 
a  council  of  judges  and  of  the  heads  of  the  army, 
after  having  consulted  the  Oracle  of  Apollo  at 
Miletus,  which  declared  that  the  presence  of 
Christians  upon  earth  was  the  cause  that  only 
false  answers  were  issued  from  the  tripod,  he 
resolved,  in  concert  with  Galerius,  to  annihilate 
Christianity.  In  the  year  303  he  published  an 
edict,  which  is  one  of  the  saddest  monuments  of 
intolerance  and  cruelty:  “All  Christians,  with¬ 
out  exception,  are  to  be  stripped  of  their  honors 
and  dignity;  no  rank,  no  position  will  serve  as 
protection  against  torture;  all  persons  are  at 
liberty  to  bring  actions  against  them,  but  they 
cannot  bring  an  action  against  any  one,  how¬ 
ever  great  the  injustice  of  which  they  may  have 
to  complain ;  churches  are  to  be  destroyed, 
ecclesiastical  property  confiscated,  religious 
books  burnt;  Christians  are  to  be  allowed  no 
liberty  and  no  voice  in  public  matters.”  In 
the  beginning  of  the  year  304  the  punishment 
of  death  was  decreed  against  all  who  would  not 
abjure  Christianity,  and  from  that  moment  the 
blood  of  Christians  flowed  in  torrents  from  one 
end  of  the  empire  to  the  other,  with  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  Gaul,  which  was  governed  by  Constan- 
tius  Chlorus.  “It  is  impossible,”  says  Dr.  Dol- 
linger,  “to  depict  the  atrocious  emulation  of  the 
persecutors  in  the  invention  and  application  of 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  47 

infernal  tortures ;  the  words  of  Lactantius  are 
too  weak  to  describe  it  when  he  says,  ‘A  voice 
of  groaning  was  heard  over  the  whole  earth, 
which  from  the  east  to  the  west  (with  the  ex¬ 
ception  of  Gaul)  was  devastated  by  the  fury  of 
three  most  ferocious  wild  beasts — Diocletian, 
Maximianus,  and  Galerius.’  ”*  The  name  of 
Diocletian  has  remained  attached  to  this  perse¬ 
cution,  which  lasted  about  seven  years,  and 
caused  frightful  carnage.  The  pagan  rulers 
thought  they  had  ruined  the  cause  of  the  new 
religion  forever,  and  to  perpetuate  the  memory 
of  their  triumph  they  caused  medals  to  be 
struck,  with  inscriptions  of  this  kind:  “The 
name  of  Christian  is  destroyed,  the  Christian 
superstition  is  everywhere  abolished,  and  the 
worship  of  the  gods  propagated.”  Fools  that 
they  were;  they  knew  not  that  the  religion  of 
the  Cross  had  been  born  in  blood;  they  forgot 
the  lesson  which  so  many  persecutions  ought  to 
have  taught  them,  that  the  blood  of  Martyrs  is 
the  seed  of  Christians.  At  the  very  time  that 
these  blind  representatives  of  a  bloody  power 
flattered  themselves  that  they  had  stifled  Chris¬ 
tianity  in  blood,  he  who  reigns  in  heaven  was 
laughing  at  their  shouts  of  triumph,  was  pre¬ 
paring  their  tomb,  and  weaving  the  crown 
which  his  justice,  too  long  ignored,  was  about 


*  Origin  of  Christianity. — Lactant. 


48  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

to  place  on  the  victorious  head  of  Christianity, 
henceforth  to  be  recognized  as  the  ruler  of  the 
empire  of  the  world. 

In  the  year  313,  Constantine  and  Licinius, 
who  were  the  real  heads  of  the  empire,  pub¬ 
lished  at  Milan  that  celebrated  edict  which,  by 
placing  Christianity  on  a  perfect  equality  with 
the  pagan  religion,  gave  it  definite  freedom. 
The  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  thus  set  free,  was 
able  to  show  itself  in  the  light  of  day ;  and  the 
pagans,  who  had  just  celebrated  its  obsequies, 
were  struck  with  amazement  when  they  beheld 
the  innumerable  multitude  which  professed  it. 
Paganism  was  vanquished;  its  day  was  over. 
Julian  the  Apostate  might  attempt  its  restora¬ 
tion,  but  the  only  result  was  to  cover  it  with 
ridicule  in  the  eyes  of  all  men,  and  to  bury  it 
forever  under  universal  contempt  and  execra¬ 
tion. 

The  fourth  century  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the 
most  glorious  periods  in  the  history  of  the 
Church,  especially  with  regard  to  science  and 
learning.  It  is  the  great  era  of  Christian  liter¬ 
ature.  It  was  adorned  by  eminent  men  of  all 
kinds ;  St.  Athanasius,  Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  St. 
Basil,  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  St.  Gregory  of 
Hyssa,  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  Didymus  and 
St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  St.  Epiphanius,  St. 
John  Chrysostom,  Lactantius,  St.  Hilary  of 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  49 

Poitiers,  St.  Eusebius  of  Vercelli,  St.  Am¬ 
brose,  St.  Jerome,  St.  Augustine.  These  were 
all  eminently  gifted  men,  some  of  whom,  with 
truly  superior  genius,  penetrated  the  profound- 
est  depths  of  the  Christian  Faith,  and  placed 
in  a  brilliant  light  the  secret  and  marvelous  har¬ 
monies  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  When 
we  read  their  profound  and  luminous  writings 
we  may  well  feel  proud  and  happy  to  be  par¬ 
takers  of  their  belief.  IIow  resplendent  with 
light  and  Divine  beauty  does  Catholic  Doctrine 
appear  in  the  works  of  these  immortal  theo¬ 
logians  !  How  vast  the  powers  of  human  rea¬ 
son!  The  chief  mysteries  in  the  natural  and 
supernatural  order  of  earth  and  heaven  shine 
therein  with  mild,  serene  brightness.  Put  we 
must  not  linger  over  this  spectacle,  consoling 
though  it  be  amidst  the  sad  attacks  of  men  of 
our  own  day,  who  seem  to  fear  that  poor  human 
reason  must  be  lowered  by  seeking  to  draw 
light  and  heat  from  the  clear,  luminous  focus  of 
Faith.  I  must  at  once  enter  on  the  subject  of 
St.  Augustine’s  unbelief  and  ultimate  return 
to  the  Faith. 


50  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief, 


CHAPTEK  IV. 

St.  Augustine — His  unbelief  and  return  to  the 

Faith. 

fS  there  any  one  who  does  not  know  that 
Augustine  was  a  genius  of  the  highest 
order,  one  of  the  most  powerful  intel¬ 
lects  whom  the  world  has  ever  produced  %  Bos-  . 
suet  read  and  re-read  him  continually,  ever 
finding  fresh  light  in  his  writings.  To  his  in¬ 
spiration  we  owe  the  most  eminent  theologians 
and  Christian  philosophers  of  the  middle  ages 
and  of  modern  times.  We  could  point  out 
writers  who  are  more  correct,  more  elegant, 
more  eloquent,  than  the  Bishop  of  Hippo;  but 
we  believe  that  in  the  annals  of  mankind  no  in¬ 
tellect  is  to  he  met  with  superior  to  his.  The 
experience  of  this  man,  as  regards  the  question 
of  unbelief  and  faith,  is  therefore  worthy  of 
particular  attention. 

By  singular  good  fortune  we  possess  a  history 
of  Augustine,  written  by  himself,  which  gives 
us  an  intimate  knowledge  of  his  soul.  His  Coru- 
fcssions  describe  with  great  minuteness  the  two- 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  51 

fold  journey  of  this  great  soul,  by  which  he 
descended  into  the  darkness  of  infidelity  and 
returned  to  the  light  of  Faith.  I  know  of  no 
book  more  curious,  more  absorbing,  more  in¬ 
structive,  than  this.  I  cannot  attempt  to  re¬ 
produce  the  simple  and  dramatic  picture  of  the 
wanderings  and  conversion  of  Augustine,  but 
must  content  myself  with  pointing  out  some  of 
its  most  characteristic  features. 

- o - 

SECTION  I. 

IIoiv  Augustine  loses  the  Faith — He  rapidly 
descends  all  the  steps  of  unbelief — lie  falls 
into  materialism  and  scepticism. 

In  Augustine’s  time,  society  was  in  great 
part  Christian,  but  still  mingled  with  paganism. 
The  Bishop  of  Hippo  wTas  born  at  Tagaste,  in 
the  year  384,  of  parents  in  the  middle  class. 
At  the  time  of  his  birth  his  father  was  not  a 
Christian,  though  he  was  converted  afterward. 
But  his  mother,  the  future  Saint  Monica,  had 
instructed  him  in  the  Faith  of  Jesus  Christ 
from  his  tenderest  years.  “I  then  already  be¬ 
lieved,”  he  says,  “and  my  mother,  and  the 
wFole  household,  except  my  father :  yet  did  not 


52  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

he  prevail  over  the  power  of  my  mother’s  piety 
in  me,  that  as  he  did  not  yet  believe,  so  neither 
should  I.”*  However,  the  young  Augustine  had 
not  received  Baptism,  he  was  only  a  Catechu¬ 
men. 

The  faith  of  the  son  of  Monica  was  neither 
sufficiently  earnest  nor  sufficiently  enlightened 
to  withstand  the  whirlwind  of  the  passions ;  nor 
could  it  resist  the  poisonous  action  of  a  hostile 
or  even  indifferent  school  of  teaching.  Augus¬ 
tine’s  faith  soon  gave  way;  but  still  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ,  which  he  had  learned  to  vene¬ 
rate  on  his  mother’s  knees,  was  always  dear  to 
his  heart,  even  amidst  his  most  grievous  dis-’ 
orders.t 

Augustine  passed  several  years  in  the  schools 
of  Tagaste  and  Madaura,  a  neighboring  city; 
then  he  was  sent  to  the  capital  of  Africa  to 
finish  his  studies. 

He  tells  us  that  his  father,  whose  means  were 
very  moderate,  was  obliged  to  impose  heavy 
sacrifices  on  himself,  in  order  to  enable  his  son 
to  study  under  the  famous  masters  of  Car¬ 
thage.  J  He  was  only  sixteen  when  he  arrived 
in  that  city.  His  soul  was  already  a  prey  to  sen¬ 
sual  passions,  and  a  residence  in  Carthage  was 
not  calculated  to  recall  him  to  the  austere  per¬ 
formance  of  duty.  He  thought  only  of  enjoy- 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 


53 


ment;  he  knew  no  other  pleasures  than  the 
gross  and  bitter  pleasures  of  sense.  “For  within 
me  was  a  famine  of  that  inward  food,  thyself, 
my  God ;  yet  through  that  famine  I  was  not 
hungered :  hut  was  without  all  longing  for  incor¬ 
ruptible  sustenance,  not  because  filled  therewith, 
but  the  more  empty,  the  more  I  loathed  it.  For 
this  cause  my  soul  was  sickly  and  full  of  sores ; 
it  miserably  cast  itself  forth,  desiring  to  be  re¬ 
lieved  by  the  touch  of  objects  of  sense.”*  The 
students  of  Carthage  were  given  up  to  all  man¬ 
ner  of  disorders,  and  though  Augustine  was  the 
slave  of  voluptuousness,  he  was  better  than 
many  of  his  companions.  According  to  the  tes¬ 
timony  of  Vincent  the  Rogatist,  he  always  loved 
decency  and  good  manners  even  in  his  irregu- 
larities.f  At  the  beginning  of  his  residence  at 
Carthage,  the  young  student  from  Tagaste  con¬ 
tracted  a  criminal  intimacy  with  a  woman  which 
lasted  fourteen  years. 

But  the  disorders  of  the  son  of  Monica  did 
not  interfere  with  his  progress  in  study;  his 
quick  intelligence  triumphed  over  every  ob¬ 
stacle.  “Those  studies,”  he  says,  “which  were 
accounted  commendable,  had  a  view  to  excelling 
in  the  courts  of  litigation ;  the  more  bepraised, 
the  craftier.  Such  is  men’s  blindness,  glorying 
even  in  their  blindness.  And  now  I  was  chief 

k. 

*  Conf.  lib.  iii.  c.  1.  |  Cf.  Conf.  lib.  iii.  c.  3. 


54  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

in  the  school  of  rhetoric,  whereat  I  joyed 
proudly.”* 

The  brilliant  student  of  Tagaste  soon  be¬ 
came  professor  of  rhetoric  in  the  metropolis  of 
Africa,  and  wras  no  less  successful  as  a  master 
than  he  had  been  as  a  scholar. 

But  what  had  become  of  Augustine’s  religious 
belief  in  the  midst  of  this  whirlwind  of  pleas¬ 
ure  and  of  the  vain  plaudits  of  the  world  ? 
Where  was  the  faith  of  his  childhood  ?  That 
faith  was  dead;  Augustine  no  longer  believed 
the  teaching  of  Christianity.  His  soul,  it  is 
true,  preserved  an  affectionate  respect  for  the  . 
name  of  Jesus  Christ;  but  this  respect,  which 
was  the  fruit  of  his  early  education,  found  no 
support  in  his  understanding,  and  subsisted 
only  as  a  vague,  unexplained  sentiment.  With 
virtue  and  innocence  the  son  of  Monica  lost  also 
his  faith.  Every  Christian  idea  was  effaced 
from  his  mind,  and  he  entertained  the  most  in¬ 
credible  prejudices  against  the  Creed  of  the 
Church.  He  attributed  the  most  extravagant 
doctrines  to  Christians.  It  was  at  this  time  he 
imagined  that  Christianity  taught  that  God  was 
a  material  being,  with  a  body  similar  to  ours ! 

It  is  inexplicable  how  an  intelligent  man  who 
had  received  a  Christian  education  could  seri¬ 
ously  impute  the  grossest  anthropomorphism  to 


*  I&itf. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  55 

a  religion  which  claims  as  one  of  its  most  glori¬ 
ous  titles  that  it  reestablished  in  the  human 
soul  the  grand  idea  of  the  spirituality  and  in¬ 
finity  of  God.  The  religious  teaching  which 
Augustine  received  in  his  childhood  must  have 
been  strangely  superficial. 

And  with  what  had  this  poor,  proud  youth 
replaced  the  faith  which  had  shone  upon  his 
cradle  ?  lie  had,  alas !  descended  to  the  lowest 
grade  of  intellectual  misery.  He  had  fallen  into 
materialism,  and  into  a  doubly  absurd  form  of 
materialism:  into  Manicheism.  We  know  that 
the  Manichees  believed  in  two  coeternal  prin¬ 
ciples,  wholly  independent  and  essentially  op¬ 
posed  to  one  another — the  good  principle  and 
the  evil  principle.  They  professed  the  most 
shameful  extravagances.  It  was  at  Carthage 
that  Augustine  fell  in  with  these  strange 
masters,  who  spoke  much  of  truth  and  science, 
and  set  forth  their  pretensions  to  unveil  all  mys¬ 
teries  ;  and  this  noble  genius,  whose  wings  had 
been  cut,  as  Plato  speaks,  by  sensuality,  allowed 
himself  to  be  caught  in  their  vulgar  toils.  “I 
fell  among  men,”  says  he,  “proudly  doting,  ex¬ 
ceeding  carnal,  and  prating,  in  whose  mouths 
were  the  snares  of  the  devil.  .  .  .  They  cried 
out  exceedingly,  Truth,  Truth,  and  spake  much 
thereof  to  me,  but  the  truth  was  not  in  them ; 
but  they  spake  falsehood,  not  of  thee  only,  O 


56  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

my  God !  who  truly  art  Truth,  but  even  of  those 
elements  of  this  world,  the  work  of  thy  hands. ”* 

.  .  .  “Alas!”  cries  Augustine,  after  having  re- 
#  called  some  of  the  errors  of  Manicheism,  “by 
what  steps  was  I  brought  down  to  the  depths 
of  hell?  Ah  my  God!  ...  I  descended 
thither  because  I  sought  thee,  not  according  to 
the  understanding  of  the  mind,  wherein  thou 
willedst  that  I  should  excel  the  beasts,  but  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  sense  of  the  flesh.”  t 

It  is  needless  to  follow  Augustine  in  the 
picture  he  draws  of  the  errors  and  unheard-of 
absurdities  into  which  Manicheism  had  led 
him4  It  is  sufficient  to  remark  that  he  con-  * 
suited  astrologers,  and  believed  all  the  follies 
of  judicial  astrology. §  Pascal  says,  “None  so 
credulous  as  unbelievers and  nothing  is  more 
true.  The  whole  history  of  infidelity  for  eigh¬ 
teen  hundred  years  confirms  this  assertion. 
People  reject,  in  the  name  of  reason,  the  Cath¬ 
olic  Creed,  reasonable  though  it  be,  and  capable 
of  solid  demonstration,  and  they  receive  the  . 
most  senseless  superstitions  without  proof  and 
against  all  reason.  A  very  curious  book  might 
be  written  with  this  title,  The  Credulity  of  In¬ 
fidels;  and  more  than  one  interesting  chapter 
might  be  furnished  by  the  times  in  which  we 
live. 

*  Conf.  lib.  iii.  c.  10. 

t  Ibid. 


tlbid.  lib.  iii.  c.  6. 
I  Ibid.  lib.  iv.  c.  2. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  57 

Augustine  had  now  become  a  thorough  ma¬ 
terialist.  He  admitted  the  existence  of  a  God, 
but  a  God  who  was  corporeal  and  extended ;  he 
could  not  conceive  the  existence  of  beings  purely 
spiritual.  lie  says :  “When  I  wished  to  think 
on  my  God,  I  knew  not  what  to  think  of  but  a 
mass  of  bodies  (for  what  was  not  such  did  not 
seem  to  me  to  be  anything).  This  was  the 
greatest  and  almost  only  cause  of  my  inevitable 
error.  For  hence  I  believed  evil  also  to  be  some 
such  kind  of  substance,  and  to  have  its  own  soul 
and  hideous  bulk.  .  .  .  And  because  a  piety, 
such  as  it  was,  constrained  me  to  believe  that 
the  good  God  never  created  any  evil  nature,  I 
conceived  two  masses,  contrary  to  one  another, 
both  unbounded ;  but  the  evil  narrower,  the  good 
more  expansive.  And  from  this  pestilent  be¬ 
ginning  the  other  sacrilegious  conceits  fol¬ 
lowed.77*  “I  knew  not  God  to  be  a  spirit,  and 
that  consequently  he  had  neither  a  body  com¬ 
posed  of  different  members,  nor  one  who  hath 
parts  extended  in  length  and  breadth,  or  whose 
being  was  bulk.77t 

Thus  was  this  magnificent  intellect  stifled,  as 
it  were,  in  the  folds  of  sensual  passion :  it  could 
no  longer  conceive  any  reality  in  the  world  of 
intelligence;  it  could  only  recognize  data  ap- 

*  Conf.  lib.  v.  c.  10.  t  Conf.  lib.  iv.  c.  3. 


58  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

parent  to  the  senses,  and  phantasms  of  the  im¬ 
agination  which  corresponded  to  them. 

The  spectacle  of  such  a  fall  involuntarily  re¬ 
calls  to  me  the  pages  of  Plato,  in  which  that 
profound  observer  points  out  that  sensuality  is 
the  usual  source  of  those  shameful  excesses  into 
which  the  most  highly  gifted  minds  fall. 
“Take,”  says  this  true  philosopher,  “take  these 
same  souls  from  childhood,  cut  away  and  re¬ 
trench  all  that  the  passion  of  lust  deposits 
therein;  free  them  from  the  heavy  masses  at¬ 
tached  to  the  pleasures  of  the  table  and  such 
like  enjoyments ;  take  away  the  weight  which 
depresses  the  vision  of  the  soul  to  inferior  * 
things.  Then  if,  freed  from  such  obstacles, 
the  same  gaze,  in  the  same  men,  is  turned 
toward  the  things  that  are  true,  it  will  behold 
them  with  the  same  penetration  with  which 
it  now  sees  the  objects  to  which  it  is  turned.”* 
Never  did  any  man  justify,  in  the  same  degree 
as  Augustine,  these  words  of  the  great  disciple 
of  Socrates. 

Manicheism  could  not  long  satisfy  this  err¬ 
ing  genius.  Tie  soon  found  therein  weak  points 
and  important  omissions,  and  his  soul  was  be¬ 
set  with  doubts.  He  was  flattered  with  the  hope 
that  Faustus,  the  most  famous  teacher  of  the 
sect,  would  readily  clear  away  his  difficulties. 

*  Republ.  lib.  vii.  516.  Cf.  lib.  ix.  586.  Tim.  90. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  59 

But  liow  was  he  deceived !  He  saw  this  incom¬ 
parable  doctor,  and  found  him  to  be  only  a  bril¬ 
liant  talker ;  he  had  no  solution  for  those  grave 
questions  with  which  the  anxious  soul  of  Mon¬ 
ica’s  son  was  tormented.*  Augustine  found 
himself  cruelly  deceived,  and  despaired  of  find¬ 
ing  in  Manicheism  the  light  he  was  seeking; 
still  he  thought  he  ought  not  to  break  the  ties 
which  bound  him  to  this  gloomv  sect.  “As  one 
finding  nothing  better,”  says  he,  “I  had  settled 
to  be  content  meanwhile  with  what  I  had,  in 
whatever  way  fallen  upon,  unless  by  chance 
something  more  eligible  should  dawn  upon 
me.”t  In  the  year  383  the  young  professor 
left  Carthage  and  repaired  to  Home.  He  had 
grown  weary  of  the  turbulence  and  dissoluteness 
of  the  students  of  Carthage;  he  was  told  that 
the  youth  of  the  Homan  schools  were  more 
docile  and  modest ;  moreover,  he  flattered  him¬ 
self  that  he  should  attain  fortune  and  glory 
more  rapidly  in  the  ancient  capital  of  the 
world.!  He  embarked  without  his  mother’s 
knowledge,  who  would  have  accompanied  him, 
and  whose  heart  was  broken  at  the  separation 
from  her  son.§  He  met  with  the  Manichees 
again  in  Home,  and  still  joined  himself  with 
them.  He  was  convinced  the  truth  was  not  to 
be  found  with  them,  but  he  despaired  of  find- 

*  Conf.  lib.  v.  c.  6,  7.  t  Ibid.  c.  7. 

J  Ibid.  lib.  v.  c.  8.  §  Conf. 


60  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

ing  it  elsewhere;  and  his  weary  spirit  began 
to  think  that  truth  cannot  be  comprehended  by 
man,  and  that  possibly  the  Academics  were  the 
wisest  of  philosophers,  for  they  doubt  all  things, 
and  abstain  from  affirming  anything.* 

The  brilliant  dreams  of  the  professor  quickly 
vanished.  “Students  of  rhetoric  were  not  want¬ 
ing  to  Augustine;  the  disorders  which  reigned 
at  Carthage  did  not  show  themselves  in  the 
Roman  schools,  but  in  them  turbulence  was  re¬ 
placed  by  meanness.  It  often  happened  that 
the  Roman  scholars  plotted  together,  and,  to 
avoid  paying  their  master’s  stipend,  deserted 
his  lessons  in  a  body.  Augustine  felt  profound 
contempt  for  such  conduct;  disgust  soon  fol¬ 
lowed  contempt,  and  hearing  that  the  city  of 
Milan  had  requested  Symmachus,  prefect  of 
Rome,  to  send  thither  a  professor  of  rhetoric, 
he  solicited  and  obtained  the  appointment.  .  .  . 
Symmachus,  prefect  of  Rome,  was  at  the  same 
time  pontiff  and  augur,  and  was  the  same  who 
shortly  afterward  begged  of  the  emperors  the 
restoration  of  the  statue  and  altar  of  Victory. 
This  defender  of  the  old  Roman  divinities  little 
thought  that  the  young  professor  of  rhetoric, 
whose  name  was  scarcely  known  to  him,  wa3 
destined  to  strike  the  last  blow  against  the  gods, 
to  close  the  sepulchre  of  the  old  pagan  world, 


*  Ibid.  c.  10. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  61 

and  to  plant  over  its  immense  tomb  the  Cross 
of  Christ,  the  prophetic  symbol  of  a  glorious 
futurity.”* 

It  was  at  Milan  that  Divine  Providence 
awaited  Augustine.  There  the  pure  light  of 
truth  was  to  open  his  weary,  aching  eyes,  and 
restore  to  them  that  clear,  strong  vision  which 
they  had  lost  through  contact  with  passion  and 
sophistry.  God  made  use  of  an  eloquent  and 
holy  Bishop  to  lead  back  this  poor  victim  of 
error  to  the  truth.  We  shall  now  see  by  what 
means. 


- o - 

SECTION  II. 

Augustine’s  return  to  the  Faith — He  passes 
through  intellectual  and  moral  crises  before 
his  conviction. 

/ 

Augustine  arrived  at  Milan  toward  the  end 
of  the  year  384;  he  was  just  thirty  years  of  age. 
The  name  of  the  Bishop  of  Milan  was  not  un¬ 
known  to  him,  for  the  fame  of  Ambrose  filled 
the  world.  The  professor  of  rhetoric  pre¬ 
sented  himself  to  the  holy  Bishop,  who  received 
him  with  the  kindness  of  a  father.  “Thence- 

*  M.  Poujoulat,  Hist,  de  St.  Augustin,  tom.  i.  c.  11. 


62  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

forth  I  began  to  love  him,”  says  Augustine; 
“at  first  indeed  not  as  a  teacher  of  the  truth 
(which  I  utterly  despaired  of  in  thy  Church), 
but  as  a  person  kind  toward  myself.”*  How 
marvelous  that  a  young  man  whose  infancy  had 
been  cradled  on  the  knees  of  a  Christian  mother 
should  not  even  suspect  that  truth  might  be 
found  in  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ !  So 
strong  were  the  prejudices  with  which  the  Man- 
ichees  had  inspired  him  against  Christianity ! 
If  he  went  to  hear  Ambrose  explain  the  doc¬ 
trines  of  religion  to  his  people,  it  was  from 
pure  literary  curiosity  and  to  enjoy  the  charms 
of  his  eloquence.  “I  listened  diligently  to  him 
preaching  to  the  people,  not  with  that  intent  I 
ought,  but,  as  it  were,  trying  his  eloquence, 
whether  it  answered  to  the  fame  thereof.  .  .  . 
And  I  hung  on  his  words  attentively,  but  of 
the  matter  I  was  as  a  careless  and  scornful 
looker-on. ”t  Are  there  not  many  in  our  days 
who  listen  to  our  great  Christian  orators  with 
the  like  dispositions  ? 

However,  Augustine,  though  exclusively 
taken  up  with  the  outward  form,  could  not  long 
forbear  acknowledging  that  the  form  in  the  ser¬ 
mons  of  Ambrose  covered  serious  and  solid 
foundation.  By  degrees  his  senseless  prejudices 
against  the  Christian  Religion  gave  way; 


*  Conf. 


t  Ibid. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  63 

finally  lie  comprehended  that  Catholic  belief 
was  not  so  absurd  as  he  had  imagined,  that  it 
could  be  defended,  and  that  the  objections  of  the 
Manichees  were  not  unanswerable.*  But  there 
he  stopped.  The  Catholic  faith  was  not  con¬ 
quered,  but  neither  did  it  appear  to  him  to  be 
victorious. t  Is  it  credible  that  he  could  be  still 
held  back  by  the  impossibility  of  conceiving  a 
purely  spiritual  substance?  However,  his  un¬ 
derstanding  definitely  abandoned  Maniche- 
ism ;  he  judged  that  the  tenets  of  most  of  the 
philosophers  with  regard  to  material  objects 
were  much  more  probable  than  the  doctrine  of 
the  Manichees.  Therefore  he  resolved  to  leave 
that  sect.  The  school  of  the  Academics,  who 
doubt  of  everything,  alone  appeared  in  harmony 
with  the  state  of  his  mind.  But  as  his  early 
education  had  commended  to  him  the  Catholic 
Church,  he  resolved,  amidst  this  universal 
doubt,  to  remain  a  Catechumen  in  the  Church 
till  something  certain  might  dawn  upon  his 
soul. 

Monica  had  crossed  the  sea  and  had  joined 
her  son  at  Milan.  She  rejoiced  to  learn  that 
Augustine  had  renounced  Manicheism.  What 
tears  and  what  prayers  had  this  holy  mother 
poured  forth  before  God  that  the  soul  of  her 
child  might  be  enlightened,  and  that  he  might 

♦  Conf.  c.  14.  t  Ibid. 


64  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

see  clearly  the  monstrous  and  immoral  errors 
of  that  sect !  Now  that  God  had  heard  her 
prayers  on  that  point  she  waited  patiently  for 
him  to  complete  his  work.  She  was  convinced 
that  she  should  not  die  till  she  had  seen  her  son 
restored  to  the  Catholic  Faith. 

But  this  darkened  intelligence  had  a  long 
road  to  traverse  before  it  could  reach  the  full 
light  of  the  Gospel.  The  idea  of  a  Being,  sov¬ 
ereignly  perfect,  shone  in  the  inmost  depth  of 
his  soul  and  seized  hold  of  his  conscience;  but 
his  understanding,  accustomed  to  the  gross  im¬ 
aginations  of  materialism,  could  not  conceive 
any  substance  without  material  form.*  Au¬ 
gustine  was  still  the  slave  of  his  senses  and  im¬ 
agination.  At  this  time  Divine  Providence 
caused  certain  books  of  the  Platonic  philoso¬ 
phers  to  fall  into  his  hands.t  He  read  them 
eagerly,  and  their  perusal  worked  the  most  salu¬ 
tary  revolution  in  his  mind.  In  them  he  saw 
that  the  sensible  world,  which  he  thought  the 
only  reality,  is  but  the  kingdom  of  shadows; 
that  true  realities  are  purely  intellectual,  and 
that  God,  who  occupies  the  summit  of  the  world 
of  intelligence,  is  a  pure  spirit  inaccessible  to 
the  senses  and  imagination.  It  was  quite  a 
revelation  to  this  noble  genius  so  long  enslaved 
by  matter.  Quitting  at  length  the  world  of 

Hid.  c.  9. 


•  Conf.  lib.  vii.  c.  1. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 


65 


phantoms  to  enter  into  that  inward  sanctuary 
where  God  shows  himself,  as  Plato  speaks,  his 
sonl  found  itself  in  finding  God:  it  beheld  it¬ 
self  by  the  aid  of  an  intelligible  light  superior 
to  itself,  a  light  unchangeable,  identical  with 
Truth.*  Here  was  the  end  of  materialism. 
The  mind  of  Augustine,  restored  to  itself,  was 
replaced  on  the  true  path  of  Christian  spirit¬ 
ualism. 

It  has  been  said  that  Plato’s  philosophy  is  the 
human  preface  to  the  Gospel. t  Doubtless  it  is 
an  incorrect  and  very  imperfect  preface,  but  it 
is  a  fact  that  Platonism  was  the  vestibule  of 
Christianity  to  Augustine  as  well  as  to  other 
great  intellects  of  the  early  centuries. 

The  books  of  the  Platonists  had  revealed  the 
invisible  world  to  Augustine ;  but  unhappily 
they  had  increased  in  him  the  pride  of  intellect 
without  freeing  him  from  the  pride  of  the  flesh, 
and  this  twofold  pride  is  the  principal  obstacle 
to  the  light  of  Faith.  The  new  disciple  of 
Plato  was  proud  of  his  wisdom ;  he  did  not  feel 
that  his  necessities  were  infinite,  he  did  not 
think  of  praying  to  God  to  supply  them.  Hu¬ 
mility  is  the  gate  of  Faith;  prayer,  which  is 
the  acknowledgment  of  a  poverty  which  expects 
everything  from  God,  is  the  most  beautiful  ex¬ 
pression  of  humility.  God  wills  that  man,  who 


t  Ibid.  c.  20. 


*  Co7if.  c.  10  and  20. 


66  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

is  a  mere  creature,  and  moreover  a  fallen  crea¬ 
ture,  should  confess  his  own  insufficiency  and 
implore  aid  from  on  high. 

This  is  the  usual  condition  of  the  effusion  of 
the  supernatural  light  of  Faith.  Augustine  was 
acquainted  with  the  teaching  of  the  Church  on 
the  Incarnation  of  the  Word,  and  after  he  had 
read  the  Neo-Pl atonists  he  willingly  believed  in 
the  Word ;  but  the  Incarnation,  that  mystery  of 
the  loye  and  humiliation  of  God,  offended  his 
egotism  and  his  pride.  In  his  eyes  Jesus  Christ 
was  the  wisest  of  men,  but  he  was  not  the  Word 
made  Flesh.* 

Augustine  learned  two  things  from  the  study 
of  St.  Pauls  Epistles  which  he  had  not  found 
in  the  books  of  the  Platonists :  the  lost  state  of 
man  and  the  need  of  the  grace  of  God  to  know 
and  practice  the  truth.  He  comprehended  the 
mystery  of  that  twofold  law,  the  law  of  the  flesh 
and  the  law  of  the  spirit,  by  the  painful  con¬ 
flict  by  which  his  soul  was  torn.  He  possessed 
the  key  to  those  wonderful  contradictions  of 
which  our  nature  is  continually  the  theatre,  and 
from  which  the  Manichees  drew  an  argument 
in  favor  of  the  absurd  doctrine  of  two  eternal 
principles — one  good  and  the  other  evil,  the  re¬ 
spective  causes  of  the  good  and  evil  which  ap¬ 
pear  in  us.  Once  convinced  of  the  fall  of  man, 


*  Conf.  c.  19.  Cf.  c.  17. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  G7 

and  contemplating  in  himself  the  deadly  traces 
of  the  fall,  Augustine  began  to  comprehend  the 
benefit  of  the  Incarnation ;  the  sentiment  of 
his  moral  and  intellectual  failings  inspired  him 
with  humility,  the  humiliation  of  the  Word  in 
the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation  no  longer  ap¬ 
peared  to  him  unworthy  of  the  majesty  of  God : 
Jesus  Christ  revealed  himself  to  his  soul  as  the 
true  and  necessary  Restorer  of  fallen  humanity. 

Augustine  relates  that,  whilst  reading  the 
Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  he  experienced,  by  the 
secret  operation  of  grace,  sentiments  of  humility 
and  compunction,  leading  him  to  shed  tears  and 
to  confess  his  faults.  lie  insists  on  this  point, 
that  humility  is  the  source  of  true  light,  and 
repeats  these  words  of  Jesus  Christ  to  his 
Father:  “Thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the 

O 

wise  and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed  them  to 
little  ones.”* 

Formerly,  when  a  student  at  Carthage,  the 
son  of  Monica  had  desired  to  read  the  Holy 
Scriptures;  hut  the  simplicity  of  the  Divine 
Books  offended  the  pride  of  a  young  man  accus¬ 
tomed  to  the  majestic  style  of  Cicero,  and  in¬ 
capable  of  penetrating  the  mysterious  depths  of 
revealed  doctrine:  the  study  of  these  sublime 
pages  was  distasteful  to  him.t  Since  then,  the 
Scriptures  had  not  changed,  hut  Augustine  was 

*  Conf.  c.  21.  t  Ibid-  lib.  iii-  C.  5. 


68  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

no  longer  the  same  man ;  his  understanding  had 
ripened,  his  prejudices  against  Christianity  had 
vanished ;  the  sermons  and  example  of  Am¬ 
brose,  the  prayers  and  tears  of  Monica,  had 
opened  his  eyes,  and  where  he  had  formerly 
perceived  only  clouds  and  darkness  he  now 
discovered  an  admirable  light. 

The  moral  and  intellectual  transformation  of 
Augustine  daily  advanced.  He  wras  no  longer 
tempted  by  the  dreams  of  his  youth,  fortune  and 
glory ;  hut  the  flesh  still  held  him  captive, 
though  the  fire  of  passion  was  allayed.  At 
this  juncture,  Augustine  sought  a  venerable 
priest,  Simplician,  the  spiritual  father  of  Am¬ 
brose,  to  whom  he  opened  his  mind.  Simplician 
related  to  him  the  conversion  of  Yictorinus,  a 
celebrated  professor,  whose  Latin  translations 
of  the  writings  of  the  Platonic  philosophers  Au¬ 
gustine  had  read.  The  young  African  professor 
ardently  desired  to  imitate  this  great  man.  His 
understanding  was  convinced  of  the  truth  of 
Christianity,  but  he  was  held  back  by  his  will. 
“I  was  bound/’  says  he,  “not  with  another’s 
irons,  but  by  my  own  iron  will.  My  will  the 
enemy  held,  and  thence  had  made  a  chain  for 
me,  and  bound  me.  Por  of  a  forward  will  was 
a  lust  made ;  and  a  lust  served  became  custom ; 
and  custom  not  resisted  became  necessity.  By 
which  links,  as  it  were,  joined  together  (whence 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  69 

I  called  it  a  chain)  a  hard  bondage  held  me  en¬ 
thralled.  But  that  new  will  which  had  begun 
to  be  in  me,  freely  to  serve  thee,  and  to  wish  to 
enjoy  thee,  0  God !  the  only  assured  pleasant¬ 
ness,  was  not  yet  able  to  overcome  my  former 
wilfulness,  strengthened  by  age.  Thus  did  my 
two  wills,  one  new  and  the  other  old — one 
carnal,  the  other  spiritual — struggle  within 
me ;  and  by  their  discord  undid  my  soul.”* 
Augustine  has  depicted  in  the  liveliest  colors 
this  grievous  combat  in  which  his  salvation  was 
at  stake.  The  spiritual  will,  aided  by  the  grace 
of  God,  can  always  vanquish  the  carnal  will, 
and  at  last,  after  many  failings,  it  completely 
triumphed  in  this  tempest-tossed  soul.  “For 
to  go  toward  thee,  O  my  God !”  cries  Augustine, 
when  relating  this  internal  conflict,  “and  even 
to  go  in  thither,  was  nothing  else  hut  to  will  to 
go,  hut  to  will  resolutely  and  thoroughly;  not 
to  turn  and  toss,  this  way  and  that,  a  maimed 
and  half-divided  will,  struggling,  with  one  part 
sinking  as  another  rose.”t  j 

Augustine  has  left  us  the  picture  of  the  last 
crisis  through  which  his  soul  passed  before 
breaking  its  chains.  It  is  a  marvellously  touch¬ 
ing  scene.  He  was  in  the  garden  of  the  house 
he  occupied  at  Milan,  and  was  alone  with  his 
friend  Alypus,  from  whom  he  had  no  secrets. 


*  Conf.  lib.  viii.  c.  5. 


t  Conf.  c.  8. 


70  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

A  mighty  storm  agitated  his  mind,  and  he  felt 
the  need  of  tears.  Alypus  perceived  it,  and 
abstained  from  following  his  friend  when  he 
rose  to  leave  him.  Augustine  cast  himself  on 
the  ground  under  a  fig-tree,  and  there  shed  tor¬ 
rents  of  tears,  intermingled  with  prayers  and 
pious  groans.  All  at  once  a  voice  issued  from 
a  neighboring  house,  like  the  voice  of  a  young 
hoy  or  girl  chanting,  and  often  repeating  these 
words:*  “Take  up  and  read;  take  up  and 
read.”  “Instantly  my  countenance  altered,” 
says  Augustine.  “I  began  to  think  most  in¬ 
tently  whether  children  were  wont  in  any  kind 
of  play  to  sing  such  words ;  nor  could  I  remem¬ 
ber  ever  to  hear  the  like.  So,  checking  the  tor¬ 
rent  of  my  tears,  I  arose,  interpreting  it  to  be 
no  other  than  a  command  of  God  to  open  the 
Book  and  read  the  first  chapter  I  should  find. 
Bor  I  had  heard  of  Antony,  that  coming  in  dur¬ 
ing  the  reading  of  the  Gospel,  he  received  the 
admonition,  as  if  what  was  being  read  was 
spoken  to  him :  ‘Go  sell  what  thou  hast  and  give 
to  the  poor,  and  thou  shalt  have  treasure  in 
Heaven:  and  come  follow  me.’*  Eagerly  then 
I  returned  to  the  place  where  Alypus  was  sit¬ 
ting,  for  there  had  laid  the  volume  of  the  Apos¬ 
tle  when  I  arose  thence.  I  seized,  opened,  and 
in  silence  read  that  section  on  which  my  ejzz 


*  Matt.  xix.  21* 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief,  71 

first  fell:  ‘Let  us  walk,  not  in  rioting  and 
drunkenness,  not  in  chambering  and  impurities, 
not  in  contention  and  envy,  but  put  ye  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  make  not  provision  for 
the  flesh  in  its  concupiscences.’*  No  further 
would  I  read,  nor  needed  I;  for  instantly  at 
the  end  of  this  sentence,  by  a  light,  as  it  were, 
of  serenity  infused  into  my  heart  all  the  dark¬ 
ness  of  doubt  vanished  away. 

“Then,  putting  my  finger  between,  or  some 
other  mark,  I  shut  the  volume,  and  with  a  calm 
countenance  made  it  known  to  Alypus.  And 
what  was  wrought  in  him  which  I  knew  not,  he 
thus  showed  me.  He  asked  to  see  what  I  had 
read.  I  showed  him,  and  he  looked  even  fur¬ 
ther  than  I  had  read,  and  I  knew  not  what  fol¬ 
lowed.  This  followed,  ‘Him  that  is  weak  in  the 
faith  take  unto  you  ;’t  which  he  applied  to  him¬ 
self  and  disclosed  to  me.  And  by  this  admoni¬ 
tion  was  he  strengthened ;  and  by  a  good  resolu¬ 
tion  and  purpose,  and  most  corresponding  to  his 
character,  wherein  he  did  always  very  far  differ 
from  me,  for  the  better,  without  any  turbulent 
delay  he  joined  me.  Thence  we  go  in  to  my 
mother ;  we  tell  her ;  she  rejoiceth ;  we  relate  in 
order  how  it  took  place;  she  leaps  for  joy,  and 
triumpheth.”t 

Well  might  this  holy  mother  triumph  and 

*  Rom.  xiii.  13,  14.  f  Rom.  xiv.  1.  J  Conf.  lib.  viii.  c.  12. 


72  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

leap  for  jov  !  Her  tears  and  supplications  were 
heard,  all  her  desire  was  accomplished.  Vigor¬ 
ous  souls,  do  nothing  by  halves.  From  the  mo¬ 
ment  that  Augustine,  yielding  to  the  attraction 
of  grace,  had  said,  “I  believe,”  he  gave  himself 
wholly  to  the  truth;  the  most  austere  practices 
of  the  Christian  religion  alone  appeared  to  sat¬ 
isfy  the  ardor  of  his  generous  will.  This  man, 
who  but  yesterday  could  not  comprehend  the 
possibility  of  living  if  deprived  of  gross  carnal 
pleasures,  now  determined  to  sacrifice  even  the 
lawful  joys  of  marriage,  and  to  live  in  per¬ 
petual  chastity.  It  is  well  known  how  faith¬ 
fully  he  kept  his  resolution. 

The  conversion  of  Augustine  happened  in  the 
month  of  August  of  the  year  386,,  when  he  was 
thirty-two  years  old.  He  was  baptized  by  St. 
Ambrose  on  Easter  Eve  in  387.  Four  years 
later  he  was  ordained  Priest  at  Hippo,  and 
toward  the  end  of  the  year  395  he  received 
episcopal  consecration. 

It  would  be  rash  to  say  what  the  genius  of 
Augustine  might  have  become  had  it  not  bent  be¬ 
fore  the  authority  of  the  Church ;  none,  I  think, 
can  take  it  upon  themselves  to  maintain  that 
the  Christian  Faith  was  an  obstacle  to  the  de¬ 
velopment  of  this  powerful  intellect.  It  is  true, 
it  is  incontestable  that  Faith  was  at  once  a 
marvellous  light  and  a  wonderful  moral  power 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 

Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  73 

to  tliis  great  mind.  Faith  opened  to  him  hori¬ 
zons  absolutely  new,  suffered  him  freely  to  use 
his  wings  and  to  traverse  with  incomparable 
ease  and  security  those  regions  in  which  human 
reason  is  naturally  called  to  exercise  itself. 

Would  you  understand,  would  you  see  with 
your  own  eyes  how  far  Faith  restores,  enlarges, 
elevates  reason  ?  Open  the  works  of  Plato  and 
of  St.  Augustine.  Whilst  you  glance  over  the 
writings  of  these  two  immortal  minds  you  will 
be  struck  hv  the  eminent  doctrinal  superiority 
of  the  Christian  Bishop  over  the  Prince  of 
Grecian  Philosophers.  First,  all  the  truths 
which  are  in  Plato  are  to  he  found  in  St. 
Augustine,  hut  with  a  purity,  a  clearness,  a 
firmness,  a  plenitude,  which  we  vainly  seek  in 
the  Athenian  philosopher.  Plato’s  view  is  fre¬ 
quently  obscured  even  on  the  ground  of  natural 
religion  in  matters  which  are  within  the  pro¬ 
vince  of  reason ;  he  sees  but  a  part  of  the  truth, 
he  mixes  error  with  it,  and  almost  always  is 
deficient  in  firmness  even  on  those  points  which 
he  seems  best  to  understand.  And  yet  every 
one  is  agreed  that  mere  human  reason  never 
had  a  more  intelligent,  more  luminous,  more 
complete  interpreter  than  the  disciple  of  Soc¬ 
rates.  Plato  is  indisputably  the  noblest  and 
most  exalted  representative  of  reason  devoid  of 
the  light  of  Faith.  But  reason,  how  high  so- 


74  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

ever  it  may  soar,  is  full  of  obscurity  and  sub¬ 
ject  to  a  thousand  weaknesses,  even  in  that 
part  of  the  moral  and  religious  domain  which 
naturally  falls  to  it.  Reason  has  lost  its  up- 
j  rightness,  and  needs  the  renovating  grace  of 
Faith  in  order  to  regain  it  and  exercise  its 
full  power.  To  Faith  the  Bishop  of  Hippo 
owes  his  incomparable  superiority  to  the  master 
of  the  Academy  on  all  great  questions  of  the 
rational  and  strictly  philosophical  order. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 


75 


CHxlPTEK  Y. 

The  Christian  Faith  of  the  Middle  Ages — It  is 
\ paramount  in  society,  and  governs  men  of 
high  intellect  as  well  as  the  common  people — 
Was  this  a  blind  Faith ? 

BT  the  period  of  the  great  Bishop  of 
Hippo’s  death  the  Roman  Empire  was 
crumbling  away  on  all  sides  under  the 
repeated  inroads  of  the  barbarians.  This  old- 
world  empire  was  condemned  to  perish ;  for,  in 
spite  of  the  work  of  moral  renovation  which  it 
had  undergone,  it  still  retained  a  fund  of  ideas 
and  customs  which  unfitted  it  for  the  office  of 
forming  Christian  society.  The  Church  re¬ 
quired  other  elements  to  found  a  new  civiliza¬ 
tion.  Moreover,  it  was  needful  that  the  justice 
of  God  should  be  exercised  upon  an  empire 
which  had  trodden  underfoot  all  laws  of  the 
moral  order,  and  which  for  three  centuries  had 
shed  the  blood  of  the  disciples  of  the  Incarnate 
Word. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  remind  the  reader 
how  Christianity  gained  possession  of  those  vig- 


76  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

orous  and  healthful  races,  uncultivated  and  sav¬ 
age  though  they  were,  which  established  them¬ 
selves  on  the  ruins  of  the  Roman  Empire.  A 
new  social  order  arose  from  the  bleeding  ruins 
with  which  the  invasion  of  the  barbarians  had 
strewn  the  soil  of  Europe.  By  dint  of  patience 
and  holy  energy  the  Church  had  contrived  to 
bind  together  by  close  ties  nations  proud  of 
their  savage  independence,  and  whilst  she  re¬ 
spected  individual  nationality,  she  founded  that 
social  unity  which  is  expressed  by  the  beautiful 
name  of  Christendom.  The  European  nations 
of  the  Middle  Ages  were  all  united  by  a  com¬ 
mon  Eaith;  they  all  recognized  the  same  au¬ 
thority;  they  all  obeyed  the  Church  as  their 
common  mother. 

Every  one  admits  that  the  Christian  Faith 
was  supreme  during  the  Middle  Ages.  People 
even  allow  pretty  generally  that  Eaith  was  a 
useful  auxiliary  to  social  and  moral  progress. 
“The  Church,”  says  one  of  the  most  ardent  ad¬ 
versaries  of  Catholicism,  “occupies  one  step  in 
the  immense  ladder  of  the  development  of  hu¬ 
manity.  Her  existence  is  intimately  united 
with  the  destinies  of  those  barbarous  nations  who 
destroyed  the  Roman  Empire;  she  was  called 
upon  to  raise  them  by  faith  to  a  state  of  morality 
and  intelligence.  The  Church  was  worthy  of 
her  mission,  for  in  an  age  of  barbarism,  immor- 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  77 

ality  and  ignorance  she  alone  opened  asylums 
for  science,  she  alone  showed  to  the  world 
models  of  Christian  perfection ;  she  wielded 
spiritual  power  in  the  highest  acceptation  of  the 
word,  for  she  ruled  by  superiority  of  reason 
and  wisdom.  But  this  rule,  by  its  very  nature, 
was  transitory.  The  world  is  no  longer  the 
world  of  the  Middle  Ages ;  it  is  no  longer  a  prey 
to  brute  force ;  it  no  longer  requires  a  power  to 
educate,  rule  and  guide  it  like  a  child  by  blind 
faith.”*  People  recognize,  therefore,  in  a  cer¬ 
tain  degree,  the  benefits  of  Catholic  Faith  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  but  they  pretend  that  the  nations 
of  that  period  were  nations  of  children,  and 
that  the  Faith  which  served  for  their  intellectual 
and  moral  education  was  a  blind  Faith. 

I  am  not  going  to  discuss  this  twofold  thesis, 
but  I  must  say  a  few  words  in  elucidation  of 
the  grave  question  whether  infidelity  is  really 
the  natural  and  legitimate  result  of  the  progress 
of  reason. 

The  Middle  Ages  comprise  two  essentially 
distinct  periods.  In  the  first  period  we  see  the 
nations  who  replaced  the  old  Homan  society  still 
barbarians;  they  are  without  moral  and  intel¬ 
lectual  fellowship;  they  have  the  impetuosity, 
the  heat,  the  inconstancy,  the  simplicity  of 

*  Studies  on  the  History  of  Humanity :  the  Papacy  and  the 
Empire.  By  F.  Laurent,  Professor  at  the  University  of  Ghent. 

P.  54. 


78  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

childhood.  In  the  second  period  we  behold 
these  same  nations,  but  entirely  changed;  they 
have  grown  up ;  they  have  completed  their  edu¬ 
cation;  they  are  truly  civilized.  The  French 
of  St.  Louis  differ  as  widely  from  the  Franks 
of  Clovis  as  a  grown-up  man  differs  from  a 
child.  How  it  is  an  incontestable  fact  that  the 
Christian  Faith  ruled  over  both  these  periods 
of  the  Middle  Ages. 

I  frankly  avow  that  I  cannot  repress  a  smile 
of  pity  when  I  hear  certain  persons  speak  dis¬ 
dainfully  of  the  darkness  of  that  grand  historic 
epoch,  and  date  the  event  of  light  to  the  world 
from  the  sixteenth  century.  If  so,  who  raised 
those  cathedrals,  those  public  edifices,  those  pal¬ 
aces  of  learning  and  piety,  those  monuments  of 
genius,  faith,  patriotism — winders  of  architec¬ 
ture — which  still  in  our  days  constitute  the 
noblest  monuments  of  the  soil  of  Europe  ?  Were 
these  marvels  of  art  bequeathed  to  us  by  na¬ 
tions  of  children?  Do  not  they  rather  deserve 
the  name  of  children  who,  in  the  face  of  these 
living  witnesses  to  the  genius  and  energetic 
activity  of  their  fathers,  insult  and  outrage  a 
glorious  past  ?  Blind,  ungrateful  children,  who 
blush  not  to  curse  the  hand  to  whose  skill  and 
bounty  they  owe  a  good  part  of  the  patrimony 
they  enjoy. 

I  am  not  a  fanatical  admirer  of  the  Middle 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  79 

Ages ;  I  believe  there  were  many  imperfections, 
many  disorders,  many  abuses  in  those  powerful 
bodies  which  were  bound  together  by  a  common 
Faith,  a  common  submission  to  the  authority  of 
the  Church.  But  men  must  indeed  be  blind  if 
they  fail  to  recognize  that  this  period  had  points 
of  incomparable  greatness. 

If,  as  people  affirm,  the  Faith  of  the  Catholic 
populations  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  an  unen¬ 
lightened  Faith,  they  must  at  least  admit  that 
it  was  not  the  fault  of  the  Church,  for  in  all 
parts  of  Europe  she  opened  sources  of  instruc¬ 
tion:  schools  arose  everywhere  by  the  side  of 
cathedrals,  colleges  and  convents,  and  some  of 
these  acquired  great  celebrity.  Great  Britain, 
Italy,  Spain,  France,  Belgium,  Germany,  Bo¬ 
hemia,  Denmark,  all  Catholic  countries,  had 
universities,  or  upper  and  universal  schools,  in 
which  all  the  sciences  were  taught.  Centres  of 
light  were  not  wanting  in  Europe:  therefore 
wThy  not  admit  that  learned  men  of  the  highest 
order  were-  nourished  in  her  bosom  ? 

I  willingly  admit  that  in  the  Middle  Ages 
historical  criticism,  mathematics,  natural  sci¬ 
ences,  were  not  cultivated  with  that  ardor  and 
success  which  in  modern  times  have  acquired 
for  them  immortnl  glory.  But  I  believe  that  the 
seience  of  Beligion,  the  science  of  the  dogmas 
taught  by  the  Church,  was  never  treated  with 


80  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

more  vigor,  penetration  and  power  at  any 
period  of  the  history  of  Christianity,  than  in 
the  age  of  St.  Anselm,  of  Hugh  and  Richard,  of 
St.  Victor,  of  St.  Bonaventure,  St.  Thomas 
Aquinas,  and  Duns  Scotus.  Ro  period  has  sur¬ 
passed  the  Middle  Ages  in  the  philosophy  of 
Christianity,  or  in  the  accurate  and  profound 
study  of  the  principles  and  the  dogmas  of  Cath¬ 
olic  Faith.  What  was  the  motto  of  those  men 
whom  ignorant  or  prejudiced  detractors  depict 
as  blindly  believing  all  the  teaching  of  the 
Church  ?  We  read  it  in  the  title  which  St.  An¬ 
selm  had  at  first  intended  to  give  to  his  Proslo- 
gium,  an  admirable  little  treatise  on  metaphys¬ 
ics  :  “Fides  qucerens  inlellectum.”  This  is  the 
device  of  all  the  masters  of  scholastic  theology. 
They  have  faith,  they  firmly  believe  all  the 
Church  teaches ;  but  they  are  not  content  with 
believing;  they  desire  as  much  as  possible  to 
understand ;  they  seek  to  give  an  account  of 
their  faith,  to  analyze  and  penetrate  its  dogmas, 
and  thus  to  attain  that  science  of  faith  which 
constitutes  true  Catholic  Theology.  “Credo  ut 
intelligam,”*  says  St.  Anselm.  I  seek  not  to 
understand  the  mysteries  of  Christianity  before 
I  adhere  to  them  by  faith.  I  accept  them  on  the 
authority  of  the  Divine  Revelation  made  known 
by  the  Church;  but  when  this  faith  is  once  es- 


*  Proslog.  c.  i. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  81 

tablished  I  endeavor  to  penetrate  its  mysteries. 
My  belief  helps  me  on  the  way  to  science.  I 
believe  in  order  that  I  may  understand.  “As 
it  is  necessary  that  we  believe  the  mysteries  of 
the  Christian  Faith  before  we  discuss  them  by 
reason,  so  does  it  also  appear  to  me  negligence 
not  to  seek  to  understand  that  which  we  firmly 
believe/’* 

Most  of  the  writings  of  the  great  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  are  an  eloquent  carrying  out  of 
this  thought:  whilst  he  rests  firmly  on  faith  he 
aims  at  raising  himself  to  the  understanding  of 
Christian  truths.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
work  from  which  we  have  just  quoted,  the  dis¬ 
ciple  of  Anselm  asks  to  be  led  “to  understand 
by  reason  that  all  which  the  Catholic  Faith 
commands  to  be  believed  of  Christ  ought  really 
to  be  believed.”!  The  master  accedes  to  his  dis¬ 
ciple’s  request,  and  seeks  to  explain  how  the  In¬ 
carnation  of  the  Son  of  God  was  necessary  for 
the  accomplishment  of  the  designs  of  Providence 
for  the  Salvation  of  man.  He  seeks  not  to  con¬ 
ceal  the  difficulties  which  infidelity  opposes  to 
the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation;  he  points  out 
and  discusses  all  these  difficulties  on  the  ground 
of  reason.  Men  who  speak  with  so  much  disdain 
of  the  blind  faith  of  the  Middle  Ages  would  do 

*  Cur.  Deus  Homo,  lib.  i.  c.  2. 

Cur  Deus  Homo,  praef. 

6 


82  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

well  to  read  this  short  treatise  on  the  Incarna¬ 
tion. 

The  spirit  of  St.  Anselm  was  that  of  all  the 
eminent  scholastics.  A  celebrated  theologian  of 
the  twelfth  century,  Richard  of  St.  Victor,  has 
left  us  a  singularly  remarkable  work  on  the 
Trinity.  At  the  beginning  of  the  book  Richard 
declares  Faith  to  be  the  starting-point  and 
necessary  foundation  of  all  theological  science. 
“Faith,”  he  says,  “is  the  entrance-gate  of  the 
sanctuary;  by  Faith  alone  can  we  penetrate 
therein.  Rut,”  he  adds  directly  afterward,  “we 
must  not  pause  on  the  threshold  of  the  sanctu-  • 
ary,  we  must  penetrate  into  the  interior,  we 
must  use  every  means  in  order  that  each  day  we 
may  daily  advance  further  in  the  knowledge  of 
the  truths  received  by  Faith.”  “If  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  all  good,”  says  this  illustrious  doctor  in 
another  place,  “resides  in  Faith,  the  consum¬ 
mation  and  completion  of  all  good  is  found  in 
science.  Let  us  labor  to  attain  this  perfection, 
let  all  serve  as  steps  by  which  we  may  go  from 
Faith  to  science;  let  us  use  every  effort  to  un¬ 
derstand  what  we  believe.  It  is  of  small  ac- 

V 

count  to  have  true  and  just  sentiments  with  re¬ 
gard  to  God ;  we  must,  as  I  have  just  said, 
endeavor  to  understand  what  we  believe ;  we 
must  labor  unceasingly,  as  much  as  we  are  per* 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  83 

mitted,  as  much  as  is  possible,  that  we  may 
grasp  by  reason  what  we  hold  by  faith.” 

Nor  was  Richard  satisfied  to  establish  princi¬ 
ples  with  regard  to  the  mission  of  theology;  he 
preached  also  by  example.  His  work  on  the 
Trinity  contains  a  truly  profound  discussion  of 
this  great  mystery;  and  though  there  are  weak 
points  in  his  book,  it  seems  to  me  a  sublime  mas¬ 
terpiece  of  metaphysical  science. 

The  generality  of  assailants  of  the  Catholic 
Faith  seem  to  imagine  that  before  modern  times 
the  grounds  and  teaching  of  that  Faith  had 
never  been  verified  by  the  light  of  reason — had 
never  formed  the  subject  of  scientific  discus¬ 
sion.  We  have  already  had  abundant  evidence 
of  the  value  of  such  an  opinion.  Moreover,  the 
Middle  Ages  have  bequeathed  to  us  the  writings 
of  one  who  is  illustrious  above  all  doctors  of  the 
Church,  and  whose  writings  would  suffice,  even 
in  these  days,  victoriously  to  refute  all  the  ob¬ 
jections  of  infidel  philosophy  to  the  Catholic 
Creed.  This  profound  and  universal  genius 
has  founded,  with  a  power  which  has  never 
been  surpassed,  the  whole  basis  of  Christianity ; 
he  has  explained  and  justified  its  dogmas,  its 
practices ;  he  has  proposed  and  solved  all  the 
difficulties  which  can  offer  themselves  to  the 
human  intelligence.  ITis  works  are  the  most 
marvellous  expression  of  the  alliance  between 


84  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

reason  and  Faith.  This  man,  whom  it  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  name,  is  St.  Thomas 
Aquinas. 

It  is  impossible  to  enter  with  any  degree  of 
minuteness  into  the  labors  of  this  great  doctor ; 
hut  I  consider  it  incumbent  on  me  to  show  the 
point  of  view  which  he  occupies  in  one  of  his 
,  great  monumental  works. 

St.  Thomas  has  written  a  work  which  we 
should  now  call  a  demonstration  of  the  Catholic 
Religion;  it  is  his  Summa  against  the  Gentiles. 
He  explains  the  design  of  the  work  as  follows : 
“Full  of  confidence  in  the  Divine  Mercy,  I  take 
upon  myself  to  fill  the  ’office  of  a  sage;  and 
though  the  undertaking  is  beyond  my  strength, 
I  intend,  according  to  my  feeble  means,  to  dem¬ 
onstrate  the  truth  professed  by  the  Catholic 
Faith,  and  not  to  repel  all  errors  contrary  to  it. 
For,  to  make  use  of  the  words  of  Hilary,  I  feel 
that  the  first  dutv  which  I  have  to  fulfil  toward 

%j 

God  during  my  life  is  to  consecrate  my  writings 
and  all  the  faculties  of  my  soul  to  the  task  of 
making  him  known.  But  it  is  difficult,  for  two 
reasons,  to  attack  each  error  in  particular.  The 
first  reason  is  that  we  are  not  sufficiently  ac¬ 
quainted  with  the  sacrilegious  inventions  of 
erring  minds  to  draw  from  their  very  teaching 
arguments  capable  of  overthrowing  their  errors. 
This  method  was  pursued  by  the  ancient  fathers 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  85 

to  destroy  tlie  erroneous  doctrines  of  the  Gen¬ 
tiles,  whose  dogmas  they  knew  because  they 
themselves  had  been  of  the  number  of  the  Gen¬ 
tiles,  or  at  all  events  had  lived  amongst  them 
and  studied  their  doctrines.  The  second  reason 
is  that  amongst  them  there  are  some,  such  as 
the  Mohammedans  and  pagans,  who  do  not  agree 
with  us  in  recognizing  the  authority  of  Scrip¬ 
ture,  which  might  convince  them.  We  can  dis¬ 
pute  with  the  Jews,  taking  the  Old  Testament 
in  support  of  our  arguments,  in  the  same  way  as 
we  make  use  of  the  Hew  Testament  in  oppos¬ 
ing  heretics.  But  pagans  and  Mohammedans 
admit  neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  Therefore, 
it  is  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  natural  rea¬ 
son,  to  which  all  are  obliged  to  submit,  although 
reason  alone  suffices  not  in  Divine  matters.  At 
the  same  time  that  I  examine  each  truth  I  shall 
point  out  the  errors  which  it  excludes,  and  I 
shall  show  how  truth  which  is  susceptible  of 
demonstration  accords  with  the  Christian 
Faith.”* 

It  is  therefore  a  complete  apology  of  the 
Christian  Faith  which  St.  Thomas  undertakes 
to  write,  taking  his  stand  on  the  ground  of  rea¬ 
son.  lie  distinguishes  two  orders  of  truths  in 
the  Catholic  Creed,  some  rational,  others  super- 
rational.  “In  those  things  which  we  confess  in 


*  Contra  Gent.  lib.  i.  c.  2. 


86  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

regard  to  God/’  says  he,  “there  is  a  twofold 
mode  of  truth.  In  fact,  there  are  truths  which 
exceed  the  power  of  human  reason:  as,  that 
God  is  three  and  one.  There  are  others  to  which 
human  reason  can  attain:  as,  for  example,  that 
God  is,  that  God  is  one,  and  other  similar 
truths,  which  the  philosophers  themselves  have 
proved  to  demonstration  with  regard  to  God, 
guided  by  the  light  of  natural  reason.”*  The 
great  apologist  explains  why  it  was  fitting  that 
rational  truths  themselves  should  he  proposed 
to  man  as  the  object  of  Divine  Taith  ;t  he  points 
out  the  causes  for  the  revelation  of  truths  su-‘ 
perior  to  reason,  X  and  proves  that  Christians  do 
not  lightly  believe  these  super-rational  truths. 
He  fixes,  in  the  following  terms,  the  principles 
which  govern  the  question  of  the  agreement  be¬ 
tween  reason  and  faith.  “Although  the  truth 
of  the  Christian  Taith  surpasses  the  capacity 
of  human  reason,  it  is  impossible  that  it  should 
he  in  opposition  to  the  data  which  form  the 
basis  of  reason.  In  fact,  first,  it  is  evident  that 
the  natural  data  of  reason  are  most  true,  so 
much  so  that  it  is  not  possible  to  think  that  they 
may  he  false.  It  is  not  permitted  to  look  upon 
that  which  appertains  to  faith  as  false,  because 
it  is  too  manifestly  confirmed  by  God.  As  that 
which  is  false  is  opposed  to  that  which  is  true, 
...  it  is  impossible  that  the  truth  of  the  Chris- 

*  Ibid.  c.  3.  f  Ibid.  c.  4.  t  Ibid.  c.  5. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  87 

tian  Faith  can  be  in  opposition  to  the  principles 
which  are  naturally  known  by  reason.  Sec¬ 
ondly,  .  .  .  The  principles  which  we  know  nat¬ 
urally  are  placed  in  us  by  a  Divine  hand,  for 
God  himself  is  the  author  of  our  nature.  There¬ 
fore  these  principles  are  also  in  the  Divine 
AYisdom ;  and  consequently  all  that  is  contrary 
to  them  is  opposed  to  the  wisdom  of  God,  and 
cannot  for  that  reason  come  from  God.  We 
must,  therefore,  conclude  that  the  articles  of 
Faith,  which  have  been  divinely  revealed,  can¬ 
not  be  contrary  to  natural  knowledge.  ...  It 
follows  evidently,  from  what  goes  before,  that 
whatever  objections  may  be  made  against  the 
teaching  of  faith,  they  cannot  be  taken  legiti¬ 
mately  from  first  natural  principles  known  by 
themselves.  Consequently  they  can  have  no 
demonstrative  force ;  they  are  only  plausible 
reasons  or  sophisms,  which  it  is  easy  to  refute.* 
“As  faith,”  says  the  angelic  doctor  in  another 
place,  “rests  on  infallible  truth,  and  as  it  is  im¬ 
possible  to-  demonstrate  the  contrary  of  truth, 
it  is  evident  that  the  proofs  alleged  against  faith 
are  not  demonstrations,  but  arguments  that  may 
be  solved.”! 

The  Summa  against  the  Gentiles  comprises 
four  books.  The  first  three  are  devoted  to 

*  Contra  Gent.  c.  7. 

t  Plato  had  already  said  that  that  which  is  true  cannot  be 
refuted. 


88  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

questions  of  the  rational  order;  the  last  treats 
of  super-rational  truths.  In  the  first  book  the 
author  considers,  by  the  method  of  reason,  that 
which  concerns  God  in  himself ;  in  the  second 
he  discusses  the  manner  in  which  creatures  pro¬ 
ceed  from  him ;  in  the  third  he  examines  the  re¬ 
lation  of  creatures  toward  him  as  toward  their 
end.  In  the  fourth  book  St.  Thomas  sets  forth 
and  discusses  the  Catholic  Doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  the  Sacraments,  the  Resurrection  of  the 
Body,  the  State  of  the  Soul  after  Death,  and 
the  Last  Judgment.  The  whole  Christian  edi¬ 
fice,  from  the  foundation  to  the  summit,  is  ex¬ 
amined  in  this  magnificent  work,  and  that  with 
a  power  of  reasoning  before  which  modern  criti¬ 
cism,  provided  it  be  sincere,  must  reverently 
bow.  Rever  has  the  Christian  Faith  been  sub¬ 
jected,  in  its  principles  and  in  its  dogmas,  to  a 
more  complete  and  serious  scrutiny.* 

If  those  who  speak  with  so  much  disdain  of 
the  Faith  of  the  Middle  Ages  would  read  the 
Summa  against  the  Gentiles,  the  Theological 
Summa  (another  incomparable  monument  of 
St  Thomas),  the  Opuscula,  and  his  Biblical 
Commentaries,  they  would  be  forced  to  admit 
that  the  Faith  which  they  call  blind  and  unrea¬ 
soning  is  marvellously  enlightened,  and  that  in 
the  hands  of  genius  it  becomes  a  power  which 

*  Summa  Theol,  part  i.  q.  1,  2,  8. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  89 

sustains,  purifies,  enlarges  reason,  and  raises  it 
to  a  sublime  grandeur  unknown  to  mere  human 
philosophy. 

The  whole  of  European  society  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  with  the  exception  of  the  Mohammedans, 
whose  religious  creed  is  beneath  discussion,  was 
Christian,  and  earnest  in  the  profession  of  the 
Faith.  Still  we  may  discover  in  its  bosom  a 
certain  number  of  unbelievers.  Scotus  Erigena, 
Amaury  of  Chartres,  and  David  of  Dinan  must 
be  regarded  as  such,  and  they  all  three  professed 
pantheism.*  The  first  has  left  us  two  consid¬ 
erable  works,  but  we  possess  no  writings  of  the 
others.  The  serious  error  into  which  these 
writers  fell  does  not  testify  to  the  rectitude  of 
their  minds.t  USTo  one  can  dream  of  comparing 
them,  for  power  of  reasoning,  with  the  men  I 
have  just  named,  or  with  the  many  other  illus¬ 
trious  philosophers  and  theologians  who  were 
the  glory  of  the  Church  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
Alcuin,  Lanfranc,  St.  Anselm,  Hildebert  of 
Mans,  Hugh,  and  Bichard  of  St.  Victor,  Peter 
Lombard,  Alexander  of  Hales,  Albertus  Mag¬ 
nus,  Vincent  of  Beauvais,  Boger  Bacon,  St. 
Thomas,  St.  Bonaventure,  Henry  of  Ghent, 
Duns  Scotus,  Dante,  Gerson,  Nicholas  of  Cusa, 

*  Abelard  was  a  rationalist  for  some  time,  but  did  not  re¬ 
main  one. 

t  See  the  excellent  work  of  our  lamented  friend  Nicholas 
Moller.  Mayence,  1844. 


90  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

were  all  sincere  believers.  Who  will  dare  to 
maintain  that  they  were  not  at  the  same  time 
the  honor  of  theology,  philosophy,  science  and 
literature  ? 

We  may,  therefore,  be  allowed  to  conclude 
that  if  in  the  Middle  Ages  men  believed  with 
a  firm  and  constant  faith  all  the  teaching  of  the 
Christian  Religion,  they  did  not  believe  blindly. 

Row  we  must  examine  whether  it  was  really 
the  progress  of  science  which  brought  about  the 
great  religious  schism  of  modern  times  which 
is  called  Protestantism,  and  which  led  to  in¬ 
fidelity,  its  natural  consequence. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  U7ibelief . 


91 


CHAPTEK  VI. 


Protestantism  and  Reason .* 

fAM  often  tempted  to  think  that  I  must 
be  under  the  influence  of  a  bad  dream, 
or  that  I  must  be  the  victim  of  some  hal¬ 
lucination,  when,  on  one  side,  I  daily  hear  the 
Catholic  Faith  and  the  Church  anathematized 
in  the  name  of  reason,  human  dignity  and  civ¬ 
ilization  ;  and  on  the  other  Protestantism  and 
infidelity,  the  offspring  of  Protestantism,  lauded 
to  the  skies.  I  ask  myself — Can  these  outcries 
be  sincere  ?  Can  reasonable  beings  be  really  met 
with  in  Europe  capable  of  pronouncing  and  re¬ 
peating  with  apparent  conviction  such  an 
opinion  ?  But  I  call  to  mind  that  in  the  in¬ 
fancy  of  Christianity  the  pious  and  chaste  min¬ 
isters  of  Nero,  Domitian,  Caligula,  and  similar 
monsters  were  seen  hurrying  to  death,  as  guilty 

*  God  forbid  that  in  the  following  pages  I  should  dream  of 
wounding,  or  even  paining,  our  separated  brethren !  But  it 
is  necessary  to  recall  the  fact  that  the  unhappy  men  who,  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  caused  this  fatal  and  irremediable 
schism  in  Christian  society  were  enemies  alike  to  reason  and 
to  social  virtue.  Protestants  of  the  present  day  are  victims 
of  this  deplorable  revolution.  We  pity  them  ;  we  judge  ttmm 
not.  We  would  not  insult  the  misery  of  a  son  whose  parents 
had  squandered  his  inheritance. 


02  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

of  impiety  and  immorality,  those  who  were  the 
sole  representatives  of  truth,  virtue,  and  moral 
and  religious  dignity.  I  remember  the  number¬ 
less  proofs  of  the  levity,  folly,  moral  and  intel¬ 
lectual  perversion  of  humanity  in  all  ages ;  and 
I  comprehend  that  in  these  days  men  may  still 
be  found  who  imagine  that  they  are  serving  the 
cause  of  reason,  justice  and  social  progress 
when  they  devote  to  public  execration  that 
grand  institution  and  those  sublime  doctrines 
which  form  the  safeguards  of  what  they  hold 
so  dear.  Doubtless  this  is  a  sad  and  frightful 
phenomenon;  but  it  is  perfectly  understood  by 
those  who  consider  what  human  nature  is,  and 
have  not  forgotten  its  history. 

The  most  determined  enemies  of  the  Catholic 
Faith  are  willing  to  admit  that  the  Church  was 
a  precious  auxiliary  to  civilization  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  in  the  midst  of  those  half-barbarous,  tur¬ 
bulent,  unsettled  races  from  whose  bosom  issued 
the  well-ordered  glories  of  the  modern  world ; 
but  they  pretend  that  since  the  advent  of  Prot¬ 
estantism  the  Church  has  but  curtailed  the  legit- 
imate  development  of  reason,  and  that  the  Cath¬ 
olic  Faith  has  been  but  a  perpetual  obstacle  to 
the  advancement  of  science  and  social  progress. 
Luther’s  revolt  against  the  authority  of  the 
Pope  is  hailed  as  the  signal  for  the  deliverance 
of  the  human  intellect,  and  men  admire  the  au- 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  93 

tliors  of  the  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century 
as  the  emancipators  of  reason  and  the  restorers 
of  the  dignity  of  man.  Not,  however,  that 
they  willingly  confess  that  human  reason  was 
set  entirely  free  by  the  Protestant  revolution. 
To  Rationalism  appertains  the  glory  of  giving 
full,  entire  freedom  to  this  noble  captive;  but 
Protestantism  was  the  first  glorious  stage  on  the 
route  of  definite  emancipation ;  and  since,  by 
the  natural  and  necessary  progress  of  events, 
Protestantism  must  bring  forth  Rationalism,  it 
has  a  right  to  claim  the  honors  of  having  broken 
the  chains  of  humanity  and  saved  reason  by  re¬ 
storing  its  power.  This  is  the  thesis  which  an 
infidel  press  is  daily  defending,  and  many  per¬ 
sons  even  elevate  this  thesis  to  the  height  of  a 
philosophical  and  historical  axiom  above  the 
reach  of  discussion. 

We  have  a  profound  respect  for  axioms,  but 
on  condition  that  they  really  are  axioms  and  do 
not  contradict  all  principles  and  facts.  We 
will  ask  leave,  then,  freely  to  examine  and  dis¬ 
cuss  this  strange  axiom,  which  our  understand¬ 
ing  has  an  invincible  repugnance  to  accept. 

We  will  begin  by  declaring  that,  with  the  ad¬ 
versaries  of  the  Catholic  Paith  wTe  recognize  the 

close  affinitv  between  Protestantism  and  Ration- 
€/ 

alism,  and  that  we  consider  the  latter  to  be  not 
only  the  natural,  but  the  legitimate  offspring  of 


94  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

the  former.  In  our  eyes  Rationalism  is,  de 
jure  as  well  as  de  facto,  the  child  of  Protestant¬ 
ism.  But  this  is  the  limit  of  our  agreement. 
Far  from  reason  having  obtained  restitution  of 
its  legitimate  dominion  and  its  rights  from 
Protestantism  and  Rationalism,  we  believe  that 
they  have  seriously  injured  reason,  and  that  it 
would  have  been  irretrievably  ruined  if  the 
Catholic  Church,  which  is  the  vigilant  and  in¬ 
corruptible  guardian  of  all  rights  and  all  prin¬ 
ciples,  had  not  unceasingly  opposed  their  per¬ 
nicious  action.  Many  persons,  we  know,  will 
look  upon  this  opinion  as  a  supreme  paradox, 
but  there  are  certain  paradoxes  which  can  be 
more  easily  justified  than  certain  axioms.  Let 
us  cast  a  rapid  glance  over  the  page  of  history, 
and  let  history  decide  in  which  of  these  two  con¬ 
tradictory  theses  truth  is  to  be  found. 

It  will  suffice  to  take  the  most  salient  points 
of  the  moral  and  intellectual  history  of  modern 
times,  and  to  abide  by  the  evidence  of  patent 
and  undisputed  facts.* 

*  Missionaries,  pastors  and  publishers  say  that  they  have 
found  “The  Faith  of  Our  Fathers”  most  satisfactory  in  con¬ 
vincing  people  that  there  is  and  can  he  only  one  true  religion. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 


95 


SECTION  I. 

Primitive  Protestantism — Age  of  Leo  X — The 
real  Doctrine  of  Luther  and  his  Accomplices 
— Denial  of  Reason  and  Liberty — War  de¬ 
clared  against  Science — Immediate  Effects  of 
these  Doctrines . 

The  age  which  gave  birth  to  Protestantism 
bears  the  name  of  a  Pope ;  it  is  the  age  of  Leo  X. 
It  appears  to  me  that  this  simple  fact  ought  to 
suffice  to  shake  the  thesis  of  the  calumniators  of 
the  Church.  At  the  moment  when  Luther 
raised  the  standard  of  revolt  the  Pontifical  court 
was  the  principal  centre  of  the  scientific,  liter¬ 
ary  and  artistic  movement  in  Europe ;  it  was  the 
rendezvous  of  artists,  authors,  philosophers ;  of 
men  who  excelled  in  every  branch  of  intellectual 
culture.  Leo  X,  the  generous  protector  of 
genius,  sought  to  assemble  round  him  the  elite , 
not  only  of  Italy,  but  of  Europe.  What  sov¬ 
ereign  ever  had  a  more  brilliant  circle  of  schol¬ 
ars;  above  all,  of  artists?  Would  not  Leonardo 
da  Vinci,  Raphael,  Michael  Angelo,  suffice  to 
render  any  age  illustrious  ?  And  it  was  in  this 
age,  so  rich  in  intellectual  greatness,  and  pre¬ 
sided  over  by  a  Pope,  that  Protestantism  ap¬ 
peared,  as  our  adversaries  say,  to  set  free  and 
reinstate  human  intellect.  Does  it  not  seem  as 


96 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

if  pleasantry  were  carried  too  far ;  and  would  it 
not  be  the  time  to  repeat  Horace’s  saying, 
“Risum  teneatisV’  But  let  us  now  see  in  what 
sense  Luther  and  his  accomplices  understood  the 
emancipation  of  reason  and  the  re-establishment 
of  human  dignity. 

Protestantism  at  its  birth  appeared  not  only 
as  a  revolt  against  the  religious  authority  of  the 
Pope,  but  at  the  same  time  as  a  protest  against 
the  principles  and  moral  teaching  of  Christi¬ 
anity,  even  against  that  part  of  Christian  Doc¬ 
trine  which  appertains  to  natural  religion ;  in  a 
word,  against  reason  purified  and  restored  to  all  • 
its  rights  by  Christianity.  There  are  two  very 
distinct  points  in  the  Reformation  of  the  six¬ 
teenth  century:  a  negative  principle  and  posi¬ 
tive  doctrines.  The  negative  principle  springs 
from  the  very  fact  of  the  revolt  against  the  au¬ 
thority  of  the  Church;  it  consists  in  the  rejec¬ 
tion  of  all  external  authority  in  matters  of  re¬ 
ligion.  But  what  did  Luther  teach  when  he  had 
denied  the  authority  of  the  Pope  and  established 
the  principle  of  the  independence  of  each  indi¬ 
vidual  Christian?  What  are  his  positive  doc¬ 
trines  ?  Considered  in  relation  to  reason  and 
the  foundations  of  moral  order,  what  symbol  did 
he  substitute  for  the  Catholic  “Credo  ?”  Here 
is  the  teaching  of  this  singular  liberator  of  the 
human  mind :  By  original  sin  man  has  lost  all 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  97 

strength,  all  power  to  know  truth  and  to  do 
good;  his  moral  and  religious  faculties  are  not 
only  weakened,  but  destroyed;  he  has  become 
essentially  wicked ;  reason,  in  so  far  as  it  re¬ 
lates  to  God  and  to  that  which  concerns  the 
moral  order,  no  longer  exists ;  liberty  is  but  a 
word.* 

Luther  wrote  a  book  expressly  against  free¬ 
will,  and  he  has  ventured  to  give  to  his  book 
this  title,  ( De  Servo  Arbitrio )  The  Slave  Will. 
He  pretends  that  philosophy  introduced  the 
word  liberty  as  well  as  the  fatal  term  reason 
among  Christians.  lie  sets  himself  with  savage 
violence  against  philosophy  and  against  all  the 
works  of  human  reason.  He  frequently  de¬ 
nounces  such  works  as  the  works  of  Satan. 
Listen  for  a  moment  to  this  extraordinary  eman¬ 
cipation  of  the  human  intellect :  “If  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Revelation  evidently  rejects  flesh  and  blood, 
that  is,  human  reason  and  all  that  comes  from 
man,  ...  it  follows,  without  doubt,  that  all 
this  can  be  only  darkness  and  lies.  Yet  the 
great  schools,  these  schools  of  the  devil,  do  not 
make  the  less  noise  about  their  natural  lights, 
and  cry  them  up  to  us  as  if  they  were  not  only 
useful,  but  even  indispensable,  to  the  manifesta¬ 
tion  of  Christian  truth ;  so  that  we  may  now  be 

perfectly  satisfied  that  these  schools  are  an  in- 

« 

•  See  Mohler,  Symbolik,  lib.  i.  ch.  ii.  Section  vi. 

7 


98  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unxhelief . 

vention  of  the  devil,  destined  to  obscure  Chris¬ 
tianity,  if  not  to  ruin  it  utterly,  as  in  fact  they 
are  on  the  high-road  to  do.”*  This  is  the  way 
in  which  Luther  speaks  of  those  great  schools, 
those  universities  which  the  Catholic  Church 
had  established  in  all  parts  of  Europe,  and 
which  diffused  everywhere  the  benefits  of 
science.  The  reformer’s  hatred  of  universities 
amounted  to  madness.  Among  other  follies,  he 
pretended  that  the  four  soldiers  who  are  said 
to  have  crucified  our  Lord  were  the  symbolical 
figure  of  the  universities  with  their  four  facul¬ 
ties,  t  In  his  explanation  of  St.  Paul’s  Epistle 

• 

to  the  Galatians  he  teaches  that  faith  ought  to 
trample  reason  under  foot,  or,  as  he  expresses  it, 
strangle  the  beast.  In  the  last  sermon  which 
he  preached  at  Wittemberg  he  says,  amongst 
other  things  impossible  to  translate,  “Reason  is 
the  bride  of  the  devil,  a  prostitute,  an  abomina¬ 
tion,  which  with  its  wisdom  we  ought  to  tread 
under  foot.” 

Luther’s  writings  are  full  of  similar  amen¬ 
ities  with  regard  to  reason. 

I  willingly  admit  that  Calvin,  Zuingle,  and 
other  leaders  of  the  Reformation,  did  not  wage 
so  ferocious  a  war  against  human  reason.  Rut 
all  the  chiefs  of  Protestantism  are  agreed  on 
these  two  points :  Man  is  not  free ;  good  works 

*  Kircher  postill.  Walch,  xi.  459.  f  Dollinger,  ibid. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  99 

are  useless  to  salvation.  Now,  I  ask,  do  not 
these  two  articles  of  the  new  creed  entail,  to¬ 
gether  with  the  denial  of  reason  and  the  dignity 
of  man,  the  destruction  of  all  moral  order,  of 
all  progress,  of  all  civilization?  To  set  up 
fatalism  as  a  dogma,  to  proclaim  the  uselessness 
of  good  works — what  is  this  but  to  destroy  the 
very  idea  of  duty,  to  destroy  all  morality,  to  re¬ 
duce  man  to  the  level  of  brutes  ?  Had  these 
monstrous  dogmas  been  generally  received  by 
the  nations  of  Europe,  so  as  to  influence  their 
daily  life,  and  had  they  become  the  rule  and 
motive  of  their  actions,  there  would  have  been 
an  end  of  civilization,  and  we  should  now  be 
plunged  in  that  abject  and  decrepit  barbarism 
in  which  Mussulman  nations,  which  profess  fa¬ 
talism  and  know  no  more  powerful  or  salutary 
idea  of  duty,  are  vainly  struggling.  Happily 
for  Europe,  “public  opinion,  good  sense,  de¬ 
cency, as  Balmez  well  remarks,  “ranged  them¬ 
selves  on  the  side  of  Catholicity.  Even  those 
nations  which  embraced  these  fatal  doctrines 
as  a  religious  theory  ordinarily  rejected  them 
in  practice.  Catholic  teaching  had  left  too  deep 
an  impression  on  these  important  points;  too 
powerful  an  instinct  of  civilization  had  been 
communicated  to  European  society  by  Catholic 
Doctrine.  Thus  did  the  Church,  whilst  she  re¬ 
jected  the  fatal  errors  taught  by  Protestantism, 


100  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

preserve  society  from  the  debasement  which  fa¬ 
talist  doctrines  carry  in  their  train.  By  con¬ 
demning  these  errors  of  Luther,  which  formed, 
as  it  were,  the  main  point  of  Protestantism  at 
its  birth,  the  Pope/’  adds  the  eminent  Spanish 
politician,  “raised  the  war-cry  against  an  irrup¬ 
tion  of  barbarism  in  the  order  of  ideas;  he 
favored  morality,  law,  public  order,  society,  the 
Vatican.  By  securing  the  noble  sentiment  of 
liberty  in  the  sanctuary  of  the  conscience,  he 
preserved  the  dignity  of  man;  by  combating 
Protestant  ideas,  by  defending  the  sacred  de¬ 
posit  confided  to  its  keeping  by  the  Divine. 
Master,  the  Roman  See  became  the  tutelar 
divinity  of  the  future  destiny  of  civilization. 

The  vigorous  spiritual  temperament  which 
Europe  had  received  from  the  action  of  the 
Church  for  so  many  centuries  past  enabled  it  to 
resist  the  abject  and  criminal  follies  of  the 
father  of  the  Reformation,  but  not  without  re¬ 
ceiving  serious  and  irreparable  injury.  It  is 
enough  to  hear  Luther  himself  despairingly  at¬ 
test  the  disastrous  effects  of  these  senseless 
doctrines ;  it  is  enough  to  hear  this  pretended 
restorer  of  the  dignity  of  man  deplore  the 
frightful  spiritual  degradation  which  immedi¬ 
ately  followed  the  establishment  of  Protestant¬ 
ism.  “Since  the  tyranny  of  the  Pope  has  ceased 

*  Protestantism  and  Catholicity  compared  in  their  effects 
on  the  civilization  of  Europe,  ch.  xi. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  101 

among  us,”  says  the  great  Reformer,  “there  is 
no  one  who  does  not  despise  pure  and  salutary 
doctrine :  it  is  no  longer  with  men  that  we  have 
to  do,  but  with  very  brutes,  with  a  brutish 
race.”  .  .  .  “People  think  only  of  deceiving 
one  another;  they  take  delight  only  in  robbery 
and  rapine:  it  appears  as  if  the  Word  of  Life 
had  the  property  of  changing  men  all  at  once 
into  so  many  savage  and  furious  beasts.” 
“Under  the  Papacy  people  performed  with  zeal, 
pleasure,  and  often  at  great  expense,  a  number 
of  those  useless  and  senseless  works.  .  .  .  Since 
they  have  heard  the  word  liberty  they  speak  of 
nothing  else,  and  use  it  only  to  refuse  to  fulfil 
every  kind  of  duty.  If  I  am  free,  say  they, 
I  may  do  what  appears  to  me  good.  If  I  cannot 
be  saved  by  works,  why  should  I  impose  priva¬ 
tions  on  myself,  as,  for  example,  by  bestowing 
alms  on  the  poor  ?  Their  conduct  is  sevenfold 
worse  under  the  reign  of  liberty  than  it  formerly 
was  under  Papal  tyranny.  .  .  .  Theft  and 
robbery  are  the  only  things  about  which  people 
show  any  zeal.  .  .  .  Whilst  half  the  town  of 
Wittemberg  is  threatened  with  ruin  on  account 
of  adultery,  usury,  dishonesty  and  rapine,  there 
is  not  even  a  tribunal  of  justice  to  rectify  all 
this  misery.  .  .  .  Formerly,  when  people  were 
yet  in  the  errors  of  Popery,  if  any  good  work 
were  in  question,  all  were  ready  and  full  of 


102  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

good  will ;  now,  on  the  contrary,  they  think  only 
of  heaping  up  riches,  of  saving,  of  robbing,  of 
stealing  the  property  of  others  by  lies,  decep¬ 
tion,  usury.  If  we  still  possess  some  evangelical 
pulpits  and  some  Christian  schools,  it  is  not  be¬ 
cause  people  have  paid  the  necessary  expenses 
from  their  own  stores:  they  found  what  they 
wanted  by  pillaging  ancient  foundations,  which 
is  not  very  meritorious.  .  .  .  Had  the  existence 
of  churches  and  schools  depended  on  our  gener¬ 
osity,  on  us  who  live  in  this  age,  there  would 
have  been  long  ago  neither  scholars  nor  pas¬ 
tors.  ”  “We  have  a  singular  spectacle  before  • 
our  eyes;  every  one  pretends  to  be  a  Christian 
and  follower  of  the  Gospel,  and  yet  they  give 
themselves  without  measure  to  gluttony,  avarice, 
usury,  and  I  know  not  what  other  vices.” 

Here  we  have  the  confession  of  the  father  of 
Protestantism  to  shoAV  us  how  far  this  magnifi¬ 
cent  Reform  had  elevated  and  ennobled  souls. 
True,  Luther  is  filled  with  indignation  when  it 
is  pointed  out  to  him  that  this  moral  and  intel¬ 
lectual  decline  is  the  natural  and  necessary  fruit 
of  his  preaching  and  teaching.  This  indigna¬ 
tion,  if  sincere,  is  certainly  singular.  When 
people  have  been  taught  that  reason  is  of  no  ac¬ 
count  in  the  moral  and  religious  order,  that  lib¬ 
erty  is  hut  a  word,  moreover,  that  good  works 
are  useless,  can  it  he  wondered  at  if  they  ah- 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  103 

stain  from  such  works  as  impose  constraint  on 
their  appetites  and  selfishness;  if  they  indulge 
all  their  inordinate  inclinations,  despise  intel¬ 
lectual  culture,  and  descend  even  below  the 
level  of  brutes  ? 

We  have  seen  that  Luther  was  not  satisfied 
with  accusing  reason  of  absolute  want  of  power 
in  the  moral  and  religious  order;  hut  that  he 
deemed  it  to  he  evil,  to  he  contrary  to  faith,  and 
that  he  attacked  all  culture  of  the  reason,  and 
especially  philosophy,  with  the  grossest  sar¬ 
casms.  These  senseless  declamations  had  their 
effect.  Schools  and  academies  were  suppressed 
in  many  places  where  the  new  religion  was  es¬ 
tablished.  “At  Wittemberg,”  says  Dollinger, 
“the  preachers,  George  Mohr  and  Gabriel  Didy- 
mus,  both  zealous  Lutherans,  proclaimed  from 
the  pulpit  that  the  study  of  the  sciences  was 
not  only  useless  but  pernicious,  and  that  people 
could  not  do  better  than  destroy  academies  and 
schools.  The  result  of  this  preaching  was  to 
convert  the  schoolhouse  of  Wittemherg  into  a 
baker’s  shop.  The  same  thing  occurred  through¬ 
out  the  duchy  of  Anspach.”*  Protestant  mag¬ 
istrates,  alarmed  at  the  desertion  and  ruin  of 
the  schools,  addressed  a  petition  to  the  Mar¬ 
grave  of  Brandenburg,  in  which  they  declared, 
“If  this  state  of  things  continue  we  shall  soon 


*  Loc.  cit.  p.  400. 


104  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

fall  into  such  gross  ignorance  that  nothing  will 
he  more  difficult  than  to  find  a  good  preacher  or 
a  skilful  lawyer.’’* 

Catholicism  had  covered  Germany  with 
schools  and  academies,  besides  a  vast  number  of 
flourishing  universities.  Where  Protestantism 
was  established  many  of  these  universities 
quickly  fell  into  decay.  The  universities  of 
Erfurt  and  Rostoch,  amongst  others,  were  en¬ 
tirely  ruined. 

The  Reformation  produced  analogous  results 
in  Denmark,  Norway  and  Sweden.  In  1594 
the  governing  senate  of  Copenhagen  addressed 
a  circular  to  the  bishops  of  the  kingdom,  in 
order  to  call  their  attention  to  certain  measures 
which  they  judged  necessary  to  arrest  the  ruin 
of  learning,  “which  it  could  not  be  denied 
was  imminent.”  “Village  schools  existed  no 
longer,”  says  Dollinger.  “Even  in  towns, 
schools  for  the  people,  as  well  as  those  of  a 
higher  class,  were  in  a  state  of  complete  decay 
during  the  sixteenth  century.”!  It  is  wTell 
known  that  in  Sweden  the  change  of  religion 
was  violently  brought  about  by  the  king,  Gusta- 
vus  Vasa,  whose  chief  object  was  to  gain  pos¬ 
session  of  Church  property  in  order  to  pay  the 
debts  he  had  contracted  by  his  wars.  In  this 

*  lb.  p.  401. 

t  Die  Reformation,  etc.,  tom.  xi.  p.  600.  Heart-rending 
accounts  are  met  with  in  Dollinger  of  the  intellectual  and 
moral  state  of  Denmark  at  this  epoch. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  105 

country,  as  in  Denmark,  the  pernicious  influ¬ 
ence  of  the  Reformation  affected,  in  the  first 
instance,  schools  and  public  instruction.  We 
may  see  this  from  two  letters,  bearing  date  1533 
and  1540  addressed  by  the  king  to  his  subjects 
at  Upsala,  Westeras,  and  the  provinces  of  Up¬ 
land  and  Indermania :  “We  are  convinced,  and 
we  make  known  to  you,”  says  the  king,  “that  the 
schools  in  all  towns  of  our  kingdom  are  in  a 
deplorable  state  of  decay;  to  such  a  point  that, 
in  those  schools  where  there  were  formerly 
three  hundred  students,  scarcely  fifty  can  now 
be  reckoned.  In  many  parishes  they  are  com¬ 
pletely  deserted,  which  must  be  highly  prejudi¬ 
cial  to  the  kingdom.  The  principal  cause  of 
this  state  of  things  is  that  you,  good,  honest 
people  that  you  are,  neglect  to  have  your  chil¬ 
dren  instructed  as  you  were  accustomed  to  do 
formerly,  and  that  you  will  not  assist  poor 
scholars  as  is  your  duty,  and  as  your  fathers 
and  ancestors  did.*  Besides,  but  a  very  small 
number  of  subjects  are  now  destined  to  pursue 
learning;  and  those  who  devote  themselves,  or 
wish  to  devote  themselves,  to  it  are  now  obliged 
to  give  it  up  for  want  of  means  and  support  on 
your  part.  .  .  .  The  refusal  or  reduction  of 
tithes  and  other  duties  of  the  same  kind  has  had 

*  Gustavus  Vasa  forgot  that  he  had  himself  given  the  death¬ 
blow  to  learning  when  he  confiscated  the  property  of  the 
Church,  and  employed  it  for  far  different  objects  than  the 
education  of  youth. 


106  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

the  fatal  effect  of  diminishing  the  means  of 
maintenance  formerly  granted  to  those  who  fre¬ 
quented  the  schools ;  and  as,  moreover,  the  title 
of  student  or  minister  is  now  held  in  disesteem, 
few  parents  will  consent  to  devote  their  children 
to  learning,  so  that  shortly  this  country  will  be 
hut  indifferently  provided  with  learned  and  ca¬ 
pable  men”* 

In  a  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Osnaburgh,  the 
Senator  Joeran  Gylte  writes,  “that  public  in¬ 
struction  is  in  so  deplorable  a  stage  in  Sweden 
that  a  new  state  of  barbarism  was  to  be  feared ; 
that  he  knew  but  ten  preachers,  or  high  func¬ 
tionaries  of  the  Church,  who  could  really  be 
considered  learned ;  and  that,  in  the  whole  king¬ 
dom,  it  would  not  be  easy  to  find  a  single  theo¬ 
logian  or  physician  who  had  attained  the  degree 
of  doctor.”! 

Erasmus,  who  was  a  competent  judge  of  the 
state  of  literature  and  science,  points  out  the 
disastrous  influence  exercised  upon  learning  by 
the  new  doctrines  in  several  passages  of  his 
writings.  Especially  he  denounces  Luther  as 
the  chief  author  of  the  decay  of  instruction. 
He  says :  “When  a  man  professes,  as  Luther  did, 
that  the  Aristotelian  philosophy — that  is  to  say, 
all  philosophical  science  based  upon  the  prin¬ 
ciples  of  Aristotle — is  but  the  work  of  Satan; 

*  Ap.  Dollinger,  loc.  cit.  p.  664.  t  Ibid.  p.  668. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  107 


when  he  looks  upon  all  speculative  science  in 
general  as  sin  and  error;  when,  with  Farell,  he 
treats  openly  and  on  all  occasions  every  kind  of 
human  knowledge  as  the  conception  of  hell  and 
the  devil,  how  can  any  one  suppose  that  such 
principles  should  produce  aught  but  a  contempt 
for  study,  and  the  predominance  of  avaricious 
and  sensual  passions  ?  Has  it  not  been  openly 
taught  at  Strasburg  and  elsewhere  that  it  is 
contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel  that  people 
should  lose  their  time,  whether  in  studying 
ancient  languages  (Hebrew  alone  excepted)  or 
in  instructing  themselves  in  any  other  branch 
of  human  learning  ?”* 

Surely  this  will  suffice.  Is  it  not  evident  that 
Protestantism  announced  itself  to  Europe,  not 
as  the  emancipator  of  reason  and  science,  as 
some  pretend,  but  as  the  inauguration  of  a  veri¬ 
table  barbarism  ?  The  Reformation  of  the  six¬ 
teenth  century  appears  in  history  as  a  revolt  of 
the  senses,  and  of  all  that  is  low  and  vile  in 
human  nature,  against  reason  and  moral  dig¬ 
nity.  It  is  the  resurrection  of  pagan  material¬ 
ism,  with  its  debasement  and  infamy,  as  far  as 
the  spiritual  atmosphere  which  long  centuries 

*  Epist.  ad  Fratres  Germanics  infer,  p.  4.  Colonise.  1561. — 
Epist.  Londini,  1642,  p.  984.  “The  printers  relate,”  says 
Erasmus  in  another  letter,  “that  previous  to  the  new  gospel 
(of  Luther)  they  were  accustomed  to  sell  three  thousand 
volumes  in  less  time  than  they  now  sell  six  hundred.”  And 
again,  elsewhere.  “Wherever  Lutheranism  reigns,  there  is  an 
end  of  literature.” 


108  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief, 

of  Christianity  had  generated  in  Europe  would 
permit.  Had  Protestant  nations  followed  lit¬ 
erally  the  teaching  of  Luther  and  his  accom¬ 
plices,  they  would  have  sunk  below  even  pagan 
vileness ;  for  pagans  did  not  anathematize  either 
reason  or  liberty,  and  Athens  and  Pome  hon¬ 
ored  science,  literature  and  art.  The  people 
were  devoured  by  the  most  ignoble  practical  ma¬ 
terialism;  but  the  philosophers,  at  all  events, 
glorified  reason,  and  exalted  noble  and  generous 
actions.  The  moral  temperament  of  European 
nations  was  strong  enough,  thank  God,  to  re¬ 
sist,  in  part  if  not  completely,  the  debasing  doc¬ 
trines  proclaimed  by  the  chiefs  of  Protestanism. 
Soon  a  number  of  Protestants  might  be  seen, 
who,  alarmed  at  the  flood  of  depravity  which 
threatened  to  overwhelm  civilization  with  its 
unclean  waters,  began  to  work  courageously  at 
opposing  a  dike  to  the  devastating  torrent. 
They  strove  to  correct  what  was  too  visibly  base 
in  the  new  religion,  and  to  assimilate  them¬ 
selves  as  much  as  possible  to  the  moral  teaching 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  whose  neighborhood 
was  not  without  influence  upon  them.  But, 
after  all,  it  is  a  fact  taught  by  history  that 
Protestantism,  as  set  forth  by  its  originators, 
bears  manifestly  the  mark  of  the  beast,  and 
that  it  is  the  negation  of  all  those  principles 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  109 

which  constitute  the  strength  and  honor  of 
European  civilization. 

We  know  what  was  the  attitude  assumed  by 
the  Catholic  Church  in  the  face  of  this  revolu¬ 
tion  which  threatened  to  destroy  all  moral 
order.  She  publicly  condemned  the  mad  doc¬ 
trines  of  Luther  and  his  competitors;  she  sol¬ 
emnly  anathematized  the  two  fundamental  arti¬ 
cles  of  the  Protestant  creed,  namely,  that  reason 
has  lost  all  power  in  that  which  regards  the 
moral  order,  and  that  liberty  no  longer  exists.* 
She  maintained  the  prerogatives  of  reason  and 
human  liberty  with  immovable  firmness,  and 
upheld  the  rights  of  morality  against  the  at¬ 
tacks  of  pretended  reformers.  She  thus  saved 
not  only  revealed  but  natural  religion,  and  with 
it  all  those  notions  of  right,  duty,  justice,  dig¬ 
nity,  responsibility,  moral  greatness,  without 
which  nations,  as  well  as  individuals,  must  fall 
into  contempt  and  decay,  and  which  raise  the 
standard  of  civilization  in  proportion  to  the  in¬ 
fluence  they  exercise  upon  society. 

By  the  admirable  laws  of  the  Council  of 
Trent  in  matters  of  discipline,  the  Catholic 
Church  opposed  a  true,  serious,  Christian  refor¬ 
mation  to  the  false,  cynical  reformation  of  Lu¬ 
ther  and  his  accomplices.  The  Council  of 
Trent  appears  as  the  bulwark  not  only  of  the 

*  See  the  Council  of  Trent,  Sess.  vi. 


110  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

Christian  Faith,  but  of  reason,  justice,  morality 
and  civilization. 

And  whilst  proud,  corrupt  men,  assuming  to 
be  reformers  of  the  Church,  were  denying  rea¬ 
son,  denouncing  science,  and  ruining  schools  of 
learning,  a  new  Religious  Order  came  forth 
from  the  ever-fruitful  bosom  of  the  Church, 
which  was  destined  to  struggle  with  incompar¬ 
able  glory  against  the  moral  and  intellectual 
barbarism  with  which  these  strange  reformers 
threatened  Europe.  The  Company  of  Jesus, 
illustrious  from  its  very  birth,  established 
schools  in  all  directions,  founded  missions,  and 
combated,  with  a  zeal  which  can  never  be  suf¬ 
ficiently  admired,  the  prevailing  state  of  ig¬ 
norance  and  immorality. 

We  must  now  say  a  few  words  of  the  general 
principle  on  which  Protestantism  is  based,  and 
point  out  the  fruits  produced  by  it. 

- o - 

SECTION  II. 

The  Negative  Principle  of  Protestantism,  or  the 
Rejection  of  Authority  in  Matters  of  Religion 
— Fanaticism  and  Rationalism  the  twofold 
Fruit  of  this  Principle. 

When  the  assailants  of  the  Catholic  Faith 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  Ill 

hail  Protestantism  as  the  liberator  of  reason  and 
science,  they  certainly  cannot  intend  to  speak 
of  the  positive  and  peculiar  doctrines  of  the 
Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century;  for,  as 
we  have  seen,  these  doctrines  sacrificed  reason 
to  a  blind  and  impossible  faith.  Apparently 
they  considered  only  the  general  principle  of  the 
Reformation,  which  consists  definitively  in  the 
rejection  of  all  authority  in  matters  of  religion. 
When  Luther  revolted  against  the  authority  of 
the  Pope,  he  naturally  sought  to  justify  his  re¬ 
volt  ;  and  he  certainly  did  this  most  effectually 
when  he  declared  that,  according  to  the  true 
spirit  of  Christianity,  each  Christian  is  the 
judge  of  religious  truth,  that  he  is  independent 
of  all  external  authority,  and  that  the  Bible  is 
his  sole  guide.  Hence  arose  the  principle  which 
was  to  serve  as  the  foundation  of  Protestantism : 
it  was  the  offspring  of  the  pride  of  a  monk  who 
sought  to  legitimatize  his  want  of  submission 
and  his  revolt  against  authority.  Luther  had  no 
suspicion  of  the  lengths  to  which  the  principle 
he  proclaimed  would  be  carried ;  and  it  must  be 
admitted  that  most  Protestant  sects  recognize  its 
value  only  so  far  as  it  affects  the  authority  of 
the  Pope:  they  are  ready  to  accept  any  author¬ 
ity  provided  it  is  not  the  authority  of  the  Pope. 
But  logic  preserves  its  rights,  and  sooner 
or  later  the  consequences  involved  in  a  prin- 


112  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

ciple  will  make  themselves  felt.  The  nat¬ 
ural  consequence  of  the  Protestant  principle  was 
fanaticism  or  rationalism,  according  as  religious 
enthusiasm  or  mere  individual  reason  might  pre¬ 
vail  in  the  reading  and  interpretation  of  the 
Bible.  Panaticism,  and  fanaticism  of  the  most 
extravagant  kind,  showed  itself  in  the  earliest 
stages  of  the  Reformation. 

“Protestantism  had  existed  for  five  years,” 
says  Mohler,  “when  several  inhabitants  of 
Zwickau,  Nicholas  Storch,  Mark  Thomas,  Mark 
Stalmer,  Thomas  Muneer,  Martin  Cellarius, 
and  others,  repaired  to  Wittemburg  in  order  to 
confer  with  the  doctors  who  had  adorned  the 
birthplace  of  Gospel  Truth.  As  Luther  was 
then  at  Wartburg,  it  devolved  on  Melancthon  to 
receive  them.  These  brethren  in  Christ  were 
sent  by  the  Holy  Ghost:  revelations  had  been 
made  to  them  on  various  subjects,  but  for  the 
present  they  contented  themselves  with  attack¬ 
ing  the  baptism  of  infants,  which  they  rejected 
as  contrary  to  Holy  Scripture.”*  Thus  arose 
the  sect  of  Anabaptists.  Now  that  the  authority 
of  the  church  was  set  at  naught,  and  all  doc¬ 
trinal  guidance  rejected,  each  man  understood 
the  Scripture  in  his  own  fashion,  and  was  but 
too  ready  to  mistake  his  own  fancies  for  the  in¬ 
spirations  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  all  the  more 

*  SymVolik,  b.  ii.  ch.  i. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  113 

because  religious  activity  in  man  was  denied  in 
principle,  and  he  was  regarded  as  passive  under 
the  hand  of  God.  How  many  visionaries  were 
to  be  found  among  the  first  disciples  of  Luther  !* 
And  would  to  God  that  these  fanatics  had  been 
no  more  than  extravagant  visionaries !  But 
with  many  fanaticism  became  the  source  of  the 
most  atrocious  cruelties  and  most  frightful  dis¬ 
orders.  Germany  was  inundated  with  torrents 
of  blood.  Hot  to  mention  other  facts,  the  peas¬ 
ants’  war,  kindled  by  Luther’s  doctrines  and 
stirred  into  a  flame  by  the  fanaticism  of  the 
Anabaptists,  covered  the  soil  with  thousands  of 
human  hecatombs.  One  historian  says  that  dur¬ 
ing  the  savage  war  “more  than  a  hundred  thou¬ 
sand  men  might  be  reckoned  as  killed  on  the 
battlefields  of  Germany,  seven  cities  were  dis¬ 
mantled,  a  thousand  Monasteries  razed  to  the 
ground,  three  hundred  Churches  burned,  and 
immense  treasures  of  painting,  sculpture,  glass, 
and  engraving  were  destroyed.”!  Who  is  ig¬ 
norant  of  the  immoral  and  bloody  follies  of 
which  Munster  was  the  theatre  under  the  tyr¬ 
anny  of  Mathias  Harlem  and  John  of  Leyden, 
that  tailor  who  was  crowned  King  of  Sion,  on 
the  24th  of  June,  1534? 

nationalism  was  another  result  of  the  rejec- 

•  See  Balmez,  tom.  i.  p.  258,  etc. 
t  Rohrbacher,  Histoire  Universelle  de  VEglise  Catholique, 

t.  xziii.  p.  227. 

8 


114  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

tion  of  the  authority  of  the  Church.  Very 
shortly  after  Luther’s  revolt  Protestants  began 
in  earnest  to  make  use  of  the  principle  of  free 
examination,  and  to  apply  it  to  the  interpreta¬ 
tion  of  the  Bible  and  the  discussion  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Faith.  These  men  did  not  believe,  with 
Luther  and  the  other  fanatics  of  whom  we  have 
just  spoken,  that  reason  was  extinct,  and  that  it 
had  been  replaced  by  the  Holy  Spirit;  but  in¬ 
stead  of  understanding  Scripture  in  conformity 
with  tradition  and  the  authority  of  the  Church, 
they  recognized  no  other  rule  for  the  interpre¬ 
tation  of  Holy  Scripture  than  human  reason, 
and  soon  went  so  far  as  to  pretend  that  nothing 
is  evident  in  Scripture  except  what  does  not  ex¬ 
ceed  the  measure  of  reason.  On  these  grounds 
was  based  Socinianism,  whose  principles  were 
definitely  established  by  Faustus  Socinus,  in  the 
second  half  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Poland 
was  at  first  the  principal  theatre  of  this  sect.54. 
Its  followers  accept  Holy  Scripture  as  the  source 
of  Divine  Bevelation;  but  they  pretend  that 
God  has  revealed  no  dogma  superior  to  human 
reason,  and  whenever  they  meet  with  the  decla¬ 
ration  of  a  doctrine  in  the  Bible  which  is  above 
reason  they  interpret  the  text  in  a  metaphorical 
or  allegorical  sense.  All  the  Christian  mys- 

*  Lilius  annd  Faustus  Socinus,  who  gave  their  names  to  this 
sect,  lived  long  in  Poland,  where  they  made  numerous  prose¬ 
lytes. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  115 

teries  were  soon  suppressed.  Socinianism  was 
the  first  rough  draught  of  Rationalism. 

Socinian  ideas  quickly  found  a  number  of 
supporters  among  learned  Protestants  in  Ger¬ 
many,  France  and  England.  Various  Protes¬ 
tant  sects,  wdio  appealed  to  the  Bible  by  the 
same  right  and  with  the  same  authority,  were 
soon  divided  on  all  points  of  doctrine.  They 
were  agreed  only  on  the  two  articles — there  is 
one  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Messiah. 
They  were  constrained  to  restrict  the  funda- 
mental  and  essential  dogmas  of  Christianity  to 
these  two  articles,  under  pain  of  condemning  the 
principle  whence  all  these  contradictions  sprang. 
And  we  must  observe  that  whilst  they  ac¬ 
knowledged  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Messiah,  they 
did  not  intend  to  prejudge  the  question  as  to 
whether  he  were  God  or  merely  a  messenger 
from  God.  Reduced  to  these  proportions, 
Christianity  evidently  lost  all  supernatural 
character,  and  became  nothing  more  than  a 
timid  Deism.  Thus  it  appears  in  the  Reason¬ 
able  Christianity  of  Locke,  and  other  writings 
of  a  similar  class.* 

The  door  was  opened  to  infidelity.  Protest¬ 
antism  was  beginning  to  bear  fruit. 

*  The  historical  development  of  the  Protestant  principle  is 
given  in  detail  in  “Brownson’s  Essays.”  See  also  “The  Path 
which  Led  a  Protestant  Lawyer  into  the  Catholic  Church  ;” 
by  Burnett,  ex-Governor  of  California. — B.  Herder,  St.  Louis. 


116  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Modern  Infidelity — Infidelity  prevails  first  in 
England,  afterward  in  France  and  Germany 
— Poverty  of  the  Infidel  Philosophy  of  the 
Eighteenth  Century — Theological  Infidelity 
in  Germany. 

tNFIDELS  are  to  be  met  with  in  every 
century  of  the  Christian  era;  but  such 
a  spectacle  as  we  have  had  before  our 
eyes  during  the  last  two  centuries  was  never 
witnessed  from  the  day  in  which  Christianity 
first  took  possession  of  the  nations  of  Europe. 
Infidelity  has  become  a  power,  and  a  formid¬ 
able  power,  possessing  a  whole  army  of  soldiers. 
Here  is  a  singular  phenomenon  in  the  annals  of 
the  Christian  world.  Protestantism,  as  we  have 
just  seen,  was  one  chief  cause  of  this  grievous 
fact.  By  the  logical  development  of  the  prin¬ 
ciple  born  of  Luther’s  revolt,  Protestantism  led 
directly  to  Rationalism ;  but  in  another  way — in 
an  indirect  way,  it  contributed  to  the  triumph 
of  infidelity  by  diminishing  the  action  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  and  by  weakening  in  a  degree 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  117 

hitherto  unknown  the  religious  spirit  in  Europe. 
Infidelity  first  displayed  its  power  on  a  Protest¬ 
ant  soil — in  England.  In  the  year  1624,  Lord 
Herbert,  of  Cherbury,  published  a  work  in 
which  Deism  was  set  forth  and  systematically 
defended.  The  empire  of  opinion  in  England 
was  conquered  for  unbelief  by  Hobbes,  Toland, 
Blount,  Shaftesbury,  Tindal,  Morgan,  Chubb, 
Collins,  Woolston  and  Bolingbroke.  Boling- 
broke  was  the  master  of  Voltaire.  It  is  well 
known  that  the  Erench  infidels  of  the  eighteenth 
century  were  but  the  echoes  of  English  Deists. 
M.  Villemain  recognizes  and  proves  this  fact  in 
his  Cours  de  Litterature  Frangaise.  He  says, 
“The  boldest  arguments  of  French  philosophy 
in  the  eighteenth  century  may  be  found  in  the 
English  school  of  the  beginning  of  that  cen¬ 
tury.”  That  philosophy  was  summed  up  in 
Bolingbroke.  In  his  dissipated  youth,  his  high 
official  station  under  Queen  Anne,  and  in  his 
exile,  he  gave  himself  up  to  the  pursuit  of  an 
anti-Christian  erudition.  His  singular  learning 
charmed  and  perplexed  Voltaire  in  the  conver¬ 
sations  they  held  together  in  Touraine.*  There, 
in  place  of  the  libertine  scepticism  which  had 
been  his  first  school,  and  the  only  philosophy  of 
Vendome  and  Chaulieu,  he  met  with  a  learned 

*  When  Bolingbroke  was  banished  from  England  by  Act  of 
Parliament,  he  withdrew  into  France,  and  had  a  magnificent 
residence  in  Touraine.  He  returned  to  England  in  1726. 


118  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

polyglot  infidelity,  based  on  the  authority  of  a 
philosopher  and  a  statesman.  We  can  easily 
conceive  how  vast  must  have  been  the  power 
exercised  by  the  reflection  of  this  erudition,  the 
confidence  of  this  bold  scepticism,  the  essence 
of  irreligion  exhaled  by  such  a  multitude  of 
books  read  rapidly  by  Voltaire,  and  imported 
into  France,  where  the  douane  was  powerless 
to  stop  them,  and  there  was  no  moral  influence 
to  resist  their  power.  Voltaire  followed  Boling- 
broke  to  England,  and  passed  three  years  with 
the  leaders  of  English  infidelity.  “Diderot,  the 
most  active  mind  of  the  eighteenth  century 
after  Voltaire,  borrowed  his  first  philosophical 
studies,  and  his  first  essay  of  the  Encyclopedia , 
from  England.*  Bousseau  took  a  great  portion 
of  his  ideas  on  politics  and  education,!  and 
Condillac  all  his  philosophy  from  Locked’  X 
Condillac  was  not  himself  an  unbeliever,  but 
his  philosophy,  a  pale  reflection,  as  it  was,  of 
Locke’s,  opened  the  way  to  all  the  degradation 
of  materialism.  It  is  curious  to  hear  this  poor 
Abbe  de  Condillac,  the  oracle  of  the  infidel 
philosophers  of  the  eighteenth  century,  date  the 

*  Diderot  and  D’Alembert,  the  editors  of  the  Encyclopedia, 
inscribed  the  name  of  Francis  Bacon  on  the  frontispiece  of 
this  famous  work,  and  brought  out  this  sad  monument  of  the 
French  science  of  the  eighteenth  century  under  the  auspices  of 
the  English  Chancellor, 

t  Locke’s  Essay  on  Civil  Government  formed  a  model  for 
the  Contrat  Social  of  Rousseau,  and  to  his  Thoughts  upon 
Education  Rousseau  is  largely  indebted  for  his  Emile. 

J  Villemain. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  119 

advent  of  philosophy  in  the  modern  world  from 
Bacon  and  Locke,  whilst  he  counts  for  nothing 
Descartes,  Malebranche,  Leibnitz,  Bossuet, 
Eenelon — all  the  great  minds  of  the  seven¬ 
teenth  century,  who  are  the  eternal  glory 
of  F rench  literature.*  I  have  said  elsewhere, 
making  use  of  Condillac’s  sacramental  for¬ 
mula  in  his  explanation  of  the  generation 
of  faculties  in  his  statue,  that  Condillacism 
is  philosophy  changing  itself  into  nonsense. 
I  am  certain  that  this  sentence  will  not 
now  be  disputed  by  any  serious  philosopher, 
whether  he  be  a  believer  or  an  unbeliever. 
Locke  is  certainly  not  strong  in  metaphysics; 
the  heights  to  which  the  genius  of  Malebranche, 
Leibnitz,  Bossuet  and  Fenelon  soars  are  inac¬ 
cessible  to  him ;  but  Locke  is  an  eagle  compared 
to  Condillac.  Yet  everv  one  knows  that  Condil- 

%j 

lac  held  the  sceptre  of  philosophy  in  France 
even  up  to  the  first  years  of  the  present  century, 
and  for  fiftv-vears  the  contemners  of  the  Chris- 

i / 

tian  Faith  bowed  before  this  man.  This  does 
not  prove  the  progress  of  reason.  It  appears  to 
me  that  if,  instead  of  seeking  inspiration  from 
England,  the  France  of  the  eighteenth  century 
had  been  faithful  to  herself  by  following  up  the 
philosophical  and  literary  traditions  of  her 

*  Leibnitz  wrote  his  two  great  philosophical  works,  his 
Essais  de  Theodicee  and  his  Nouveaux  Essais  sur  VEntende- 
vient  Humain ,  in  French. 


120  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

seventeenth  century,  reason  would  not  have  been 
the  loser. 

Oh !  that  men  who  look  upon  infidelity  as  the 
natural  and  necessary  result  of  the  legitimate 
-  progress  of  reason  would  draw  a  simple  com¬ 
parison,  hut  a  comparison  which  speaks  most 
eloquently.  The  seventeenth  century,  as  rep¬ 
resented  by  her  greatest  men,  was  thoroughly 
Christian;  the  eighteenth,  on  the  contrary,  was 
infidel.  Now,  which  is  the  greater  of  these  two 
centuries  for  power  of  reason,  extent  of  science 
and  brilliancy  of  literature?  I  think  among 
earnest  men  there  cannot  be  two  opinions  on  the 
subject :  the  seventeenth  century  is  undoubtedly 
far  superior  in  all  these  respects  to  the  eigh¬ 
teenth.* 

As  to  philosophy,  which  is  the  highest  mani¬ 
festation  of  reason,  we  must  admit  that  among 
French  infidels  of  the  eighteenth  century  it  was 
entirely  null.  Who  in  the  present  day  would 
dream  of  taking  Ilelvetius,  D’Holbach,  Lamet- 
trie,  and  other  thinkers  of  the  same  school,  in¬ 
heritors  of  Condillac’s  sensualism,  for  philoso- 

*  “The  great  writers  of  the  age  of  Louis  XIV,”  says  Maine 
de  Biran,  “were  so  only  in  their  own  estimation  ;  this  no 
longer  exists,  and  now  the  most  brilliant  amongst  them  seem 
but  as  monkeys,  whose  tricks  excite  our  surprise ;  they  are 
lively,  nothing  more.  ...  I  see  men  of  wit  who  believe  only 
in  themselves  ;  they  are  puffed  up  with  pride,  completely  sat¬ 
isfied  with  their  own  utterances  ;  they  imagine  the  world  ad¬ 
mires  them,  and  in  fact  this  self-esteem  gains  for  them  the 
approbation  of  men  of  weak  judgment :  competent  judges  ridi¬ 
cule  them  and  their  pretentions.” — Maine  de  Biran,  La  Vie 
et  ses  Pensees,  p.  329. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  121 

phers  ?  What  philosopher  would  consent  to 
speak  seriously  of  the  pretended  philosophy  of 
Voltaire  and  J.  J.  Rousseau?  They  were 
writers  of  genius,  I  admit,  hut  strangers  alike 
to  philosophy  and  to  all  science  properly  so- 
called.  They  were  men  of  letters,  hut  neither 
philosophers  nor  scholars.  If,  then,  the  eigh¬ 
teenth  century  was  infidel,  it  evidently  did  not 
become  so  by  its  intellectual  and  scientific  su¬ 
periority.  We  must  seek  elsewhere  for  the 
causes  of  that  unbelief,  which,  with  frightful 
rapidity,  invaded  the  higher  ranks  of  French 
society  and  spread  thence  over  the  rest  of  Eu¬ 
rope. 

A  conscientious  and  learned  man,  the  Abbe 
Bergier,  who  lived  in  the  midst  of  the  infidels  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  read  all  their  works, 
has  not  been  afraid  to  affirm  that  their  unbelief 
had  no  other  source  than  licentiousness  and  the 
unbridled  sway  of  the  passions.  “We  make  a 
point,”  he  says,  at  the  beginning  of  his  Traite 
de  la  Yraie  Religion,  “of  ignoring  whether  the  ^ 
authors  of  the  crowd  of  impious  books  which  at¬ 
tack  religion,  are  living  or  dead,  fellow-country¬ 
men  or  foreigners,  known  or  unknown ;  we 
would  depict  them  only  by  their  writings:  we 
attack  books,  not  men.  We  will  only  mention 
by  name  those  whose  works  arc  generally 
avowed,  and  we  will  allege  no  other  facts  than 


122  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

those  which  result  from  the  works  themselves. 
Limiting  ourselves  to  this  irrefragable  proof,  we 
maintain  that  licentiousness  and  unbridled  pas¬ 
sion  are  the  real  causes  of  infidelity.”* 

The  Baron  d’Holbach,  who,  in  his  capacity  of 
first  maitre  d7  hotel  of  philosophy, t  must  have 
been  well  acquainted  with  the  philosophical  or 
infidel  party,  passes  the  following  judgment  on 
the  greater  number  of  his  accomplices,  in  a  book 
of  mournful  celebrity :  “We  must  allow  that  cor¬ 
ruption  of  manners,  debauchery,  license,  and 
even  frivolity  of  mind  may  often  lead  to  irre- 
ligion  or  infidelity.  .  .  .  Many  people  give  up 
prejudices  they  had  adopted  through  vanity  and 
hearsay;  these  pretended  free-thinkers  have  ex¬ 
amined  nothing  for  themselves,  they  rely  on 
others  whom  they  suppose  to  have  weighed  mat¬ 
ters  more  carefully.  IIow  can  men,  given  up 
to  voluptuousness  and  debauchery,  plunged  in 
excess,  ambitious,  intriguing,  frivolous,  and  dis¬ 
sipated — or  depraved  women  of  wit  and  fashion 
— how  can  such  as  these  be  capable  of  forming 


*  Introd.,  Section  14. 

t  D’Holbach  was  in  the  habit  of  giving  two  dinners  a  week 
to  his  friends  the  philosophers.  The  Abbe  Galiani,  writing 
him  from  Naples,  the  7th  April,  1770,  says :  “Does  the 
philosophy  of  which  you  are  the  chief  steward  always  eat 
with  so  good  an  appetite?”  It  suffices  to  make  the  most 
glorious  titles  odious  that  a  certain  man  should  have  appropri¬ 
ated  them.  The  name  of  sophist,  so  honorable  in  its  origin, 
was  forever  disgraced  by  Gorgias,  Protagoras,  and  other  buf¬ 
foons  whose  notions  were  so  cruelly  lashed  by  the  irony  of 
Socrates.  It  is  not  the  fault  of  Voltaire’s  school  that  philos¬ 
ophy  did  not  share  the  same  fate. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  123 

an  opinion  of  a  religion  they  have  never  thor¬ 
oughly  examined,  of  feeling  the  force  of  an 
argument,  or  of  embracing  a  system  in  all  its 
parts 

About  the  same  period  another  leader  of  un¬ 
belief  spoke  thus  of  a  multitude  of  infidels: 
“Can  philosophy  boast  of  having  for  adherents, 
in  a  dissolute  nation,  a  multitude  of  dissipated 
and  licentious  libertines  who  despise  a  gloomy 
and  false  religion  on  hearsay,  without  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  duties  they  ought  to  substitute  for 
it  ?  AVill  philosophy  he  flattered  by  the  inter¬ 
ested  homage  and  stupid  applause  of  a  troop  of 
voluptuaries,  of  public  robbers,  of  intemperate 
and  licentious  men,  who  conclude  that  because 
they  forget  their  God  and  despise  his  worship, 
therefore  they  owe  nothing  to  themselves  or  to 
society,  and  who  think  themselves  wise,  because 
(though  often  with  fear  and  remorse)  they 
trample  under  foot  chimeras  which  compelled 
them  to  respecft  decency  and  morality  ?”t 

Helvetius  admits  that  his  friends,  the  leaders 
of  infidelity,  were  sometimes  more  taken  up 
with  the  correction  of  their  work  than  of  their 
behavior.  |  Who  is  ignorant  that  Voltaire  and 
Rousseau  were  not  precisely  models  of  chastity 
nor  even  of  probity?  Frederick  II,  who  had 

*  Systeme  de  la  Nature ,  tom.  ii.  ch.  13.  Le  Systeme  de  la 
Nature  is  a  manual  of  atheism, 
t  Essad  sur  les  Prejuges,  ch.  8. 
tDe  I’Esprit,  2  discours,  c.  9. 


124  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

long  been  intimately  acquainted  with  Voltaire, 
and  who  was  certainly  not  very  exacting  on  the 
score  of  morals,  wrote  thus  to  Dargot:  “Vol¬ 
taire  behaved  here  like  a  consummate  scoundrel 
and  cheat,  and  I  paid  him  off  as  he  deserves. 
He  is  a  wretch,  and  for  the  honor  of  genius  I 
am  sorry  that  a  man  who  has  so  much  should  be 
so  full  of  mischief.  V oltaire  is  the  most  wicked 
fool  I  have  ever  known:  is  only  good  to  read. 
You  cannot  imagine  what  duplicity,  cheating 
and  villainy  he  practiced  here.”* 

There  is  no  doubt  that  corruption  of  morals, 
joined  to  the  weakening  of  Christian  sentiments 
which  Protestantism  had  brought  about  in  Eu¬ 
rope,  was  the  principal  cause  of  the  infidelity  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  Season  and  science  had 
nothing  to  do  with  it.  I  believe  that  no  honest 
man,  who  has  read  some  of  the  writings  of  the 
most  eminent  infidels  of  that  period,  and  who 
is  acquainted  with  their  moral  history,  will  dis¬ 
pute  the  fact. 

But  let  me  not  be  misunderstood.  I  do  not 
mean  to  say  that  moral  corruption  is  the  sole 
cause  of  infidelity:  unbelief  has  many  other 
sources,  and  I  freely  acknowledge  that  among 
infidels  men  are  to  be  found  whose  lives  are 

*  The  work  of  M.  Nicolardot,  Menage  et  Finances  de  Vol¬ 
taire,  Paris,  1854,  shows  what  were  the  habits  of  Voltaire 
and  the  philosophers  of  the  eighteenth  century.  I  do  not 
approve  the  general  tone  of  this  work,  but  it  contains  some 
curious  information. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  125 

purer  than  the  lives  of  many  Christians.  I 
merely  recall  a  historical  fact  which  is  indispu¬ 
table. 

Further,  two  distinct  forms  of  infidelity  are 
met  with  in  the  eighteenth  century.  By  the 
side  of  that  frivolous  infidelity,  which  for  the 
most  part  originated  and  was  kept  up  in  the  im¬ 
moral  atmosphere  of  the  salons  of  the  Voltair¬ 
ian  school,  there  was  a  serious,  earnest  infidel¬ 
ity,  produced  by  causes  of  a  totally  different 
kind.  This  serious  infidelity  prevailed  in  Ger¬ 
many  especially,  and  its  principal  organs  were 
the  Protestant  theologians.  Germany  had  paid 
a  heavy  tribute  to  the  raillery  and  frivolity 
which  distinguished  French  infidelity.  Fred¬ 
erick  II,  who  had  an  equal  contempt  for 
morality  and  religion,  had  made  Berlin  the 
rendezvous  of  French  freethinkers,  and  en¬ 
couraged  them  in  their  work  of  demoralization. 
The  spirit  of  the  French  school  was  exactly 
represented  by  some  German  writers,  such  as 
Edelmann,  Bahrdt  and  Basedow.  But  about 
the  same  period  a  grave,  earnest  Rationalism 
arose  from  a  wholly  different  source.  The  Prot¬ 
estant  theologian,  Semler,  carrying  out  to  its 
legitimate  conclusion  the  principle  of  free  ex¬ 
amination  in  the  interpretation  of  Holy  Scrip¬ 
ture,  founded  theological  or  exegetical  Ration¬ 
alism.  This  new  form  of  infidelity  soon  found 


126  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

numerous  supporters  in  the  ranks  of  the  Prot¬ 
estant  clergy,  and  since  the  beginning  of  the 
century  it  has  been  dominant  in  the  theological 
schools  of  Protestantism. 

We  know  that  with  Protestants  theology  rests 
wholly  and  exclusively  on  the  Bible.  Luther, 
and  the  companions  of  his  revolt  against  the 
traditional  authority  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
pretended  that  the  Bible  was  the  sole  source  of 
Divine  Revelation,  and  that  all  Christian  doc¬ 
trine  was  most  clearly  declared  in  it ;  that,  con¬ 
sequently,  it  was  useless  to  interrogate  tradi¬ 
tion,  which,  besides,  had  for  the  most  part  only 
corrupted  the  purity  of  the  teaching  contained 
in  Holy  Scripture.  Hence  the  boasted  disdain 
of  the  early  Protestants  for  tradition  and  its 
most  venerable  interpreters,  the  Bathers  and 
Doctors  of  the  Church.  Protestant  theology 
knows  only  the  Bible,  and  is  in  fact  but  the 
mere  simple  interpretation  of  the  Bible:  it  is 
confounded  with  the  exegesis  itself.  How,  to 
the  greater  number  of  Protestant  theologians  the 
Bible  is  but  a  book  like  any  other,  stripped  of 
all  supernatural  character,  and  no  more  repre¬ 
senting  a  Divine  teaching  than  the  dialogues  of 
Plato  or  the  metaphysics  of  Aristotle.  They  in¬ 
terpret  it  as  a  purely  human  work ;  and  when 
they  meet  with  facts  or  doctrines  which  trans¬ 
cend  the  powers  of  nature  or  the  capacity  of 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  127 

reason,  they  either  reject  them  altogether  or 
explain  them  so  as  to  bring  them  down  to  the 
level  of  the  purely  natural  order.  This  is  the 
rationalistic  exegesis,  which  is  at  the  same  time 
theological  rationalism.  It  is  a  rationalism 
which  rests,  at  least  in  appearance,  on  the  Bible, 
and  makes  its  comments  with  the  greatest  care ; 
but  in  reality  it  robs  the  Bible  of  its  very  es¬ 
sence,  and  recognizes  no  other  light  than  that 
of  mere  human  reason.  It  differs  from  ordi¬ 
nary  or  philosophical  rationalism  only  in  form. 

Bor  some  years  past  a  movement  favorable 
to  the  Christian  Baitli  has  stirred  the  ranks  of 
the  Protestant  theologians  of  Germany.  Many 
distinguished  scholars  have  broken  with  ration¬ 
alism.  Unfortunately  their  faith  has  no  fixed 
rule,  and  their  opinions  are,  for  the  most  part, 
vague  and  uncertain.  The  early  Protestants 
in  practice  forgot  the  principle  of  free  exami¬ 
nation  and  free  interpretation  of  the  Bible,  and 
were  fixed  in  their  belief  by  common  and  sup¬ 
posed  obligatory  confessions  of  Baith;  now, 
even  believing  theologians  no  longer  accept  these 
ancient  creeds.  Julius  Muller  says:  “It  is 
patent,  that  in  all  the  theological  works  recently 
published,  and  in  which  the  collective  doctrines 
to  be  believed  are  set  forth,  there  is  not  one 
which  has  not  declared  that  the  Lutheran  con¬ 
fessions  need  modification  on  some  point  or 


128  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

other;*  and  this  regards  definitions  of  the 
highest  importance.”  And  Ehrenberg  said,  be¬ 
fore  the  general  Synod  of  Berlin,  that  he  had 
for  years  sought  a  man  who  should  agree  on  all 
points  with  his  Confessions  of  Faith,  and  that 
he  had  never  found  such  a  one.  It  is  affirmed 
that,  for  the  last  hundred  years,  no  theologian, 
either  from  his  professor’s  chair  or  from  the 
pulpit,  has  taught  one  single  doctrine  perfectly 
agreeing  in  form  and  matter  with  the  published 
Confessions. t  How  can  a  common  settled  faith 
be  maintained  when  no  doctrinal  authority  is 
recognized  on  religious  subjects  ?  Would  that 
those  theologians  who  believe  and  who  must 
groan  over  the  divisions  and  uncertainty  pro¬ 
duced  by  the  necessary  development  of  the  prin¬ 
ciples  of  the  Reformation — would  that  they 
might  at  length  comprehend  that  the  authority 
of  the  Catholic  Church  is  the  Divine,  indispen¬ 
sable  safeguard  of  the  firmness  and  unity  of  the 
Christian  Eaith,  and  that  a  full,  pure  Eaith  is 
to  be  found  in  the  bosom  of  Catholicism  alone ! 

*  Deutsche  Zeitschrift,  1855,  p.  107. 

t  Revue  mensuelle  pour  VEglise  evangelique  unie. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 


129 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


The  Principal  Forms  of  Contemporary  Infi¬ 
delity — Materialism — Pantheism — Sophistry 
and  Scepticism — Spiritualistic  Rationalism. 


-^REFTCH  unbelief  is  rarely  distinguished 
by  originality.  In  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury  it  copied  England,  in  the  nine¬ 
teenth  it  copies  Germany.  Erom  England, 
France  borrowed  the  cynical  deism  and  debased 
philosophy  which  quickly  engendered  material¬ 
ism  ;  from  Germany  she  has  in  our  days  re¬ 
ceived  Pantheism,  and  that  presumptuous  soph¬ 
istry  which,  .together  with  the  principles  of  re¬ 
ligion,  pretend  also  to  change  the  fundamental 
laws  of  reason  itself. 

IIow  thankful  and  happy  should  believers 
feel  when  they  behold  the  result  of  the  arro¬ 
gant  efforts  of  poor  human  reason  in  revolt 
against  the  teaching  of  Christian  Faith!  For 
the  last  century  two  systems  have  been  predomi¬ 
nant  by  turns  in  the  schools  of  infidelity;  and 

what  are  these  systems?  Materialism  and  Pan- 

«/ 

9 


130  Carnes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

theism.  And  what  is  Materialism?  what  is 
Pantheism  ?  I  ask  the  question  of  every  under¬ 
standing  that  is  not  dead  or  wholly  perverted  by 
falsehood.  Materialism  is  reason  abdicating 
her  throne,  which  she  abandons  to  the  flesh;  it 
is  the  mind  compassing  its  own  ruin,  and  de¬ 
livering  itself  up  as  a  vile  slave  to  the  caprices 
of  the  body  which  was  made  to  serve  it;  it  is 
the  soul  losing  the  very  consciousness  of  its  own 
reality,  and  believing  itself  to  be  but  the  prop¬ 
erty  or  a  dependent  of  the  organs  of  sense ;  it  is 
man  assimilated  to  the  brutes,  and  glorying  in 
this  assimilation.  And  what  is  Pantheism  ? 
Pantheism,  as  we  shall  explain  presently,  is 
reason  abdicating  its  throne  and  abandoning  it 
to  sophistry;  it  is  the  radical  change  of  all 
principles  which  form  the  light  of  the  moral 
and  intellectual  life  of  humanity;  it  is  the  ne¬ 
gation  of  good  sense  and  reason — of  pure,  sim¬ 
ple  reason — that  which  all  men  call  reason. 
Behold  the  intellectual  and  moral  progress  ac¬ 
complished  by  the  human  mind  in  revolt  against 
God !  What  a  lesson  for  any  one  capable  of  re¬ 
flecting  and  judging ! 

At  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  Ma¬ 
terialism  was  the  fashionable  doctrine  with  in¬ 
fidels,  at  least  in  Prance.  We  know  to  what  a 
depth  of  degradation  and  ignominy  it  had  sunk 
at  the  end  of  the  last  century.  Men,  who  in 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  131 

their  pride  despised  the  Christian  Faith,  and 
rejected  Christianity  in  the  name  of  the  pro¬ 
gress  of  reason,  blushed  not  to  place  a  naked 
prostitute  upon  the  altar  of  the  Incarnate  God. 
Behold  the  goddess,  who,  by  a  just  judgment  of 
Divine  Providence,  was  permitted  to  call  her¬ 
self  the  goddess  of  reason! 

Materialism  was  vigorously  combated  by  men 
whose  names  have  retained  their  celebrity. 
Boyer,  Collard,  Maine  de  Biran,  M.  Cousin, 
carried  on  a  persevering  war  against  this  ig¬ 
noble  philosophy,  which  ended  in  destroying  its 
authority  as  a  recognized  philosophical  system. 
Many  unbelievers,  however,  renounced  Mate¬ 
rialism  only  to  embrace  Pantheism.  France 
and  Europe  are  indebted  to  Germany  for  this 
monstrous  philosophy. 

The  earliest  professors  of  Pantheism  in 
modern  times  were  Giordano  Bruno,  an  un¬ 
frocked  monk  .of  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
Baruch  Spinoza,  a  Dutch  Jew,  of  the  seven¬ 
teenth.  As  long  as  the  mind  of  Europe  pre¬ 
served  its  uprightness  and  balance  there  was 
nothing  to  fear  from  Pantheism.  The  seven¬ 
teenth  century  only  beheld  in  Spinoza’s  phi¬ 
losophy  the  mad  dream  of  a  delirious  mind ;  the 
eighteenth  century,  though  infidel,  borrowed 
nothing  from  Spinoza’s  philosophy,  and  took 
from  him  only  a  portion  of  his  rationalistic 


132  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

criticism  of  the  Bible.*  Pantheism  established 
itself  in  Europe,  and  began  to  acquire  import¬ 
ance  only  in  the  last  years  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  especially  in  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth.  It  appeared  first  in  Germany, 
where,  thanks  to  the  religious  decomposition 
brought  about  by  the  natural  development  of 
Protestantism,  the  training  of  the  intellect  had 
passed  almost  wholly  into  the  hands  of  the 
rationalistic  philosophy.  Kant  was  at  that 
time  its  great  master.  This  philosopher,  who 
had  been  thrown  into  an  absurd  course  by  the 
Cartesian  formalism  of  Wolf,  made  the  idea  of 
God,  and  all  those  general  and  absolute  ideas 
which  are  the  light  and  rule  of  reason,  purely 
subjective  forms  of  the  human  mind — necessary 
forms  certainly,  but  devoid  of  all  objective 
value.  Thence  he  argued  the  impossibility  of 
proving  the  existence  of  God,  and  the  reality  of 
a  moral  order  beyond  our  ego ,  by  means  of 
theoretical  reason ,  that  is  to  say,  of  reason  prop¬ 
erly  so-called.  Johann  Gottlieb  Eichte,  the 
most  celebrated  of  the  disciples  of  the  philoso¬ 
pher  of  Konigsberg,  went  still  further.  He 
taught  that  there  is  no  real  God,  no  moral  order 
exterior  to  the  ego;  according  to  Eichte  it  is 
this  ego  which  is  God,  which  is  the  true  Sov- 

*  Voltaire  and  his  followers  were  only  acquainted  with  the 
Traite  Theologico-Politico  of  Spinoza ;  they  were  ignorant  of 
L’Ethique,  which  contains  this  writer’s  philosophy. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  133 

ereign  Reality ;  all  else  is  the  work  of  the  activ¬ 
ity  of  this  ego ,  the  product  of  thought.  This 
is  idealistic  or  subjective  Pantheism,  and  was 
the  first  form  of  the  revived  Pantheism. 

Pantheism  having  reappeared,  the  works  of 
Spinoza,  which  had  been  long  forgotten,  be¬ 
came  once  more  the  fashion ;  and  this  writer, 
who  professes  the  most  brutal  and  repulsive 
materialistic  Pantheism,  was  hailed  as  the 
prince  of  modern  philosophy.  Infidel  France 
soon  shared  the  infatuation  of  Germany  for 
this  miserable  philosopher  whom  Malebranche 
called  a  wretch,  and  whose  system  he  treated  as 
a  frightful  chimera.  I  want  no  other  proof 
of  the  feebleness  and  decline  of  reason  among 
our  infidel  philosophers  than  their  judgment  of 
Spinoza. 

Schelling  and  Ilegel  were  the  most  famous 
representatives  of  Pantheism  in  Germany  dur¬ 
ing  the  first  half  of  the  present  century.  Hegel 
is  the  undoubted  master  of  the  sophistry  of  our 
day.  ’  --  •  I 

Victor  Cousin,  the  founder  of  the  eclectic1 
school,  who,  in  1817,  visited  the  leaders  of  the 
philosophical  movement  in  Germany,  imported 
Pantheism  into  France.  Afterward  he  sin¬ 
cerely  repudiated  this  fatal  doctrine.  The  most 
considerable  writers  of  the  eclectic  school  never 
adopted  Pantheism.  But  by  the  side  of  this 


134  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

purely  philosophical  school  arose  another  whose 
teachers  openly  professed  that  system.  I  speak 
of  the  humanitarian  socialist  school,  which 
reckoned  Pierre  Leroux  among  its  leaders,  as 
also  the  unhappy  Abbe  de  Lamennais,  whose 
pride  plunged  him  into  every  kind  of  error. 
Leroux  teaches  Pantheism  clearly  in  his  work 
De  VHumanite,  and  Lemennais  tried  to  rec- 
-oncile  it  with  Christianity  in  L’Esquisse  d’une 
Philosophie.  A  philosopher  of  some  repute, 
M.  Yacherot,  formerly  a  disciple  of  Cousin, 
still  professes  Pantheism.  M.  Renan  once 
summed  up  the  metaphysics  of  V acherot  in 
the  following  sentence:  “  God  is  the  idea  of 
the  world,  and  the  world  is  the  reality  of  God.” 
As  for  M.  Renan  himself,  that  tardy  copyist  of 
German  extravagance,  he  recognized  no  God 
hut  the  ideal,  as  it  manifests  itself  in  the  human 
mind,  with  which  it  is  confounded.  This  is 
pure  atheism.* 

Belgium  did  not  escape  the  general  contagion. 
A  German  philosopher,  M.  Ahrens,  a  disciple 
of  Krause,  introduced  Pantheism  into  the  Uni¬ 
versity  of  Brussels.  It  was  professed  there 
later  by  M.  Tiberghien,  the  pupil  and  successor 
of  M.  Ahrens,  in  the  chair  of  philosophy. 

*  The  Vie  de  Jesus,  which  the  infidel  press  of  Belgium, 
France,  and  Italy  has  welcomed  as  the  last  utterance  of  Ger¬ 
man  criticism,  has  excited  irrepressible  ridicule  in  learned 
Germany,  even  in  the  bosom  of  the  rationalistic  schools. 
Grave  German  critics  cannot  comprehend  how  any  one,  in 
the  critical  state  of  science,  can  regard  in  a  serious  light  the 
author  of  such  a  book. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  135 

This  detestable  system  has  assumed  many 
various  forms,  and  I  willingly  admit  that  the 
Pantheism  of  Schelling,  Krause,  and  other  con¬ 
temporary  philosophers  differs  in  many  respects 
from  the  Pantheism  of  Spinoza;  hut  these  dif¬ 
ferences  are  hut  accessory;  the  foundation  of 
the  system  is  the  same  in  all,  and  it  is  this: 
Pantheism  consists  in  recognizing  but  one  sole 
substance,  and  in  giving  to  this  one  substance 
the  name  of  God.  God  is  all,  since  all  partici¬ 
pates  of  his  substance,  and  is  truly  consubstan- 
tial  with  him.  According  to  this  doctrine,  God 
is  no  longer  a  personal  Being,  subsisting  in 
himself,  and  living  by  his  own  life,  substantially 
distinct  from  the  world  and  from  each  one  of  us, 
a  Being  gifted  with  a  personal  intelligence  and 
will.  lie  is  the  sole  and  universal  substance, 
displaying  himself  under  the  form  of  the  world, 
and  of  humanity,  developing  himself  necessa¬ 
rily  and  unceasingly  under  this  twofold  form, 
which  is  the  sole  and  necessary  manifestation  of 
his  life.  God  exists  not  without  the  world  and 
without  man ;  he  has  no  reality  but  in  them  and 
by  them ;  man  and  the  world  are  in  strict  terms 
the  realization  of  God.  This  is  the  essence  of 
all  Pantheism.  We  maintain  that  such  a  doc¬ 
trine  not  only  injures  reason,  but  radically  de¬ 
stroys  it.  Kothing  can  be  plainer. 

Pantheism,  by  recognizing  only  one  sole  sub- 


136  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

stance  or  essence,  called  by  the  name  of  God, 
pretends,  and  must  pretend,  that  all  things  and 
all  ideas  are  fundamentally  identical,  and  can 
only  differ  in  form;  it  proclaims  the  principle 
of  absolute  and  universal  ideality.  Hence  the 
identity  of  God  and  the  world,  of  mind  and 
matter,  of  necessity  and  liberty,  of  truth  and 
falsehood,  of  good  and  evil,  of  just  and  unjust, 
of  being  and  not  being,  as  Hegel  teaches  posi¬ 
tively  :  hence  in  one  word  the  identity  of  things 
that  are  contrary  and  contradictory.  All  this  . 
is  the  direct  denial  of  that  fundamental  princi¬ 
ple  without  which  there  is  neither  reason,  lan¬ 
guage  nor  thought.  It  is  impossible  to  affirm 
yes  and  no  at  the  same  time  with  regard  to  the 
same  point.  I  ask,  is  not  all  this  the  total, 
radical  destruction  of  reason?  Ho,  Pantheism 
is  not  philosophy;  it  is  mere  sophistry;  it  is 
the  production  of  a  reason  overthrown  and  be¬ 
come  unreason  or  systematic  folly. 

The  logic  of  Hegel,  in  which  that  daring 
master  of  German  philosophy  affirms  in  express 
terms  the  identity  of  things  that  are  contrary 
and  contradictory,  is  simply  the  logic  of  supreme 
absurdity,  and  it  is  the  only  logic  that  Panthe¬ 
ism  can  produce.* 

*  Pius  IX.,  in  his  memorable  allocution  of  June  9th,  1862, 
thus  characterizes  Pantheism :  “With  a  dishonesty  only 
equalled  by  egregious  folly,  they  do  not  hesitate  to  assert  that 
there  exists  no  divine  Being,  no  eternal  providence.  0'irii'- 
cient  and  supreme,  distinct  from  the  universe,  and  that  God 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  137 

Observe  further  that  by  representing  God, 
or  the  universal  substance,  as  something  inde¬ 
terminate,  which,  according  to  Hegel’s  expres¬ 
sion,  becomes  and  never  is,  which  changes  and 
modifies  itself  unceasingly,  which  develops  it¬ 
self  and  progresses  indefinitely,  Pantheism  sup¬ 
presses  at  one  stroke  those  necessary,  inimitable, 
absolute  ideas  which  are  the  support,  light  and 
rule  of  our  intelligence,  and  without  which  man 
is  no  longer  a  reasonable  being,  rationis  parti- 
ceps.  If  there  be  no  perfect  and  unchangeable 
God,  how  can  there  be  unchangeable  truth  ? 
Where  would  truth  have  her  foundation  or  her 
abode  ?  Consequently  how  could  there  be  prin¬ 
ciples  ?  With  the  immutability  of  God,  all 
truths  and  all  principles  must  necessarily  fall. 
Ho  lohger  is  anything  fixed,  all  is  subject  to 
change.  All,  according  to  the  saying  of  Hera¬ 
clitus,  is  in  perpetual  flow.  In  this  universal 
and  incessant  movement,  in  which  at  every  in¬ 
stant  one  wave  succeeds  another  wave,  reason 
can  no  longer  exist,  and  thought,  deprived  of  its 
anchor,  wanders  at  hazard  over  a  tempest-tossed 
ocean. 

This  is  the  goal  attained  by  that  proud  plii- 

and  nature  are  identical,  and  that  God  as  a  consequence  is 
subject  to  change  ;  that  all  things  are  God  and  have  the  very 
essence  of  the  Deity,  that  God  is  identical  with  the  world, 
and  necessarily  spirit  with  matter,  necessity  with  liberty, 
truth  with  falsehood,  good  with  evil,  what  is  just  with  in¬ 
justice  ;  than  which  it  is  certainly  impossible  to  invent  or 
imagine  anything  more  foolish,  more  impious,  more  contrary 
to  reason  itself.” 


138  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

losophy  which  the  most  famous  infidels  of  the 
nineteenth  century  have  thought  fit  to  substi¬ 
tute,  in  the  name  of  progress  and  reason,  for 
the  ancient  Christian  Faith. 

For  some  time  past  Pantheism  has  lost 
ground  in  Europe ;  it  is  on  the  decline  in  strictly 
philosophical  schools,  though  it  undoubtedly 
still  reckons  a  great  number  of  adherents  in 
Germany,  Belgium,  France  and  elsewhere. 
And  it  is  unfortunately  undeniable  that  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  Pantheism  will  be  long  felt  among  . 
us.  This  detestable  philosophy  has  corrupted 
all  principles,  and  the  reason  of.  Europe  has 
probably  suffered  irreparable  injury  from  the 
long  sway  which  it  has  exercised  over  the  minds 
of  men.  The  manner  in  which  many  writers 
who  do  not  profess  Pantheism  treat  religion, 
social  and  moral  sciences,  history,  and  even  lit¬ 
erature,  sufficiently  attests  that  they  still  suffer 
from  this  fatal  influence. 

Since  the  decline  of  Pantheism  in  Germany, 
Materialism  has  gained  favor  there.  At  pres¬ 
ent,  it  numbers  many  supporters  among  the  rep¬ 
resentatives  of  philosophy,  but  especially  among 
the  interpreters  of  the  natural  sciences.  Feuer¬ 
bach,  Max  Stirner,  Arnold  Ruge,  Vogt,  Mole- 
schott  L.  Buchner,  not  to  mention  others,  re¬ 
ject  everything  that  transcends  the  limits  of  ex¬ 
perience — God,  the  moral  law,  the  immortality 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  139 

of  the  soul,  all  general  principles  which  to¬ 
gether  form  the  light  and  rule  of  reason,  and 
without  which  man  is  no  longer  a  reasonable  be¬ 
ing,  but  a  mere  sensitive  being,  an  animal. 
German  Materialism  followed  Pantheism,  and 
in  more  than  one  instance  sprang  directly  from 
it.  Hegel  deified  man:  his  disciple,  Feuer¬ 
bach,  brought  man  down  to  the  level  of  the 
beasts.  Is  not  this  a  repetition,  in  the  moral 
order,  of  the  old  story  of  Nabuchodonosor ? 
Man  madly  lifts  himself  up  to  the  desire  of  be¬ 
coming  God,  then  falls  below  his  own  nature  of 
man;  he  becomes  like  to  the  beasts,  and  sinks 
so  low  as  even  to  seek  to  convince  himself  that 
such  ignominy  is  his  glory. 

In  France,  two  or  three  writers  calling 
themselves  philosophers  have,  in  the  name  of 
reason,  resumed  the  defence  of  Materialism. 
Auguste  Comte  and  Littre  have  founded  a  pre¬ 
tended  philosophy  which  they  adorn  with  the 
name  of  positive  philosophy,  because  it  recog¬ 
nizes  only  facts  attested  by  experience.  The 
school  which  proudly  calls  itself  the  critical 
school  is  worthy  to  figure  by  the  side  of  the  posi¬ 
tivist  school.  Taine  and  Renan,  wrho  are 
firmly  persuaded  that  before  the  appearance  of 
their  school  there  was  neither  science  nor  phi¬ 
losophy  upon  earth,  are  its  chief  upholders. 
These  enlightened  minds  profess  Materialism, 


140  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

Taine  roughly  and  openly,  Renan  in  delicate 
terms,  and  with  shades  of  such  nicety  and  va¬ 
riety  as  to  do  honor  to  his  imagination.  This 
austere  moralist  brands  that  “egotism  which 
makes  us  eagerly  seek  the  reward  of  virtue  be¬ 
yond  the  tomb.”*  In  M.  Renan’s  eyes  the  im¬ 
mortality  of  the  soul  is  a  chimera  wThich  fades 
away  before  the  touch  of  criticism,  it  is  an  in¬ 
vention  of  Greek  philosophy.  This  eminent 
critic  mocks  at  the  “doctrine  called  spiritualist, 
which  cuts  man  into  two  parts,  body  and  soul, 
and  looks  upon  it  as  quite  natural,  that  while 
the  hodv  rots  the  soul  should  survive.”!  In 
fact,  is  it  not  much  more  natural  that  the  soul 
should  decay  with  the  body? 

What  a  noble  philosophy!  and  how  proud 
ought  a  man  to  feel  who  has  made  such  wonder¬ 
ful  discoveries !  M.  Renan  is,  in  fact,  so  en¬ 
chanted  with  himself,  that — in  order  doubtless 
to  justify  his  immeasurable  pride — he  goes  so 
far  as  to  point  out  pride  and  disdain  as  the 
chief  among  virtues.  Listen  to  this  really  origi¬ 
nal  moralist :  “The  word  pride,  in  the  language 
of  Christian  moralists,  is  held  in  suspicion ;  it 
is  used  to  stigmatize  precious  qualities,  and 
even  virtues.”!  “There  is  a  certain  elevation 
of  soul  which  is  only  obtained  by  a  habit  of 
disdain.”§  “Disdain  almost  always  produces 

*Vie  de  Jesus,  p.  55.  Paris,  1863.  t  lb.  P-  51. 

X  Essais  de  Morale  et  de  Critique,  p.  174.  %  lb.  p.  209. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  141 

a  delicate  style.  .  .  .  Disdain  is  a  delicate  and 
delicious  luxury  which  a  man  enjoys  by  him¬ 
self:  it  is  discreet,  for  it  suffices  to  itself.”* 
And  in  the  blasphemous  romance  which  it  has 
pleased  him  to  call  vie  de  Jesus ,  this  man,  who, 

.  according  to  the  words  of  a  famous  orator,  has 
found  means  to  make  praise  of  the  most  repul¬ 
sive  form  of  blasphemy,!  extols  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  for  having  “founded  that  great  doctrine 
of  transcendent  disdain,  the  true  doctrine  of 
the  liberty  of  souls,  which  alone  gives  peace. 

Is  not  this  intoxication?  is  not  this  truly  de¬ 
lirium  ?  To  have  descended  to  the  lowest  de¬ 
gree  of  intellectual  abjection,  and  there, 
haughty  in  the  midst  of  ruin,  pity  those  who, 
as  Plato  says,  have  not  so  far  corrupted  their 
understanding?  What  can  there  be  in  the  in¬ 
tellectual  order  below  Materialism,  and  that 
state  in  which  reason,  wholly  stripped  and  cor¬ 
rupted,  no  longer  believes  in  truth,  and  can  no 
longer  discern  between  that  which  is  and  that 
which  is  not  ?  This  is  M.  Henan’s  position,  as 
his  last  writings  testify.  This  singular  leader 
of  the  pretended  critical  school  in  France  is 
perhaps  the  most  remarkable  type  of  those  sub¬ 
tle  but  corrupted  minds,  numerous  enough  at 
the  present  time,  who  have  no  concern  as  to 

*  Essais  de  Morale  et  de  Critique,  p.  188. 
f  M.  de  Montalembert.  $  Vie  de  Jesus,  p.  117. 


142  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief, 

what  is  true  or  what  is  false,  and  who  lull 
themselves  with  images  and  a  vain  sound  of 
words.  Nor  is  this  class  of  mind  new.  It  was 
dominant  in  Greece  at  the  epoch  when  Socrates 
appeared.  Protagoras  and  Gorgias  are  the  real 
ancestors  of  M.  Renan  and  our  other  contem¬ 
porary  sophists.  It  is  the  glory  of  Socrates  that 
he  delivered  his  country  from  these  public 
poisoners.  Who  will  deliver  European  society 
of  their  miserable  descendants? 

By  the  side  of  the  Materialists,  Pantheists, 
sceptics,  sophists  of  every  kind,  there  is  among 
unbelievers  a  large  class  of  men  who  seek  to 
maintain  the  fundamental  dogmas  of  natural 
religion  and  the  essential  principles  of  moral 
order:  these  are  the  spiritualistic  rationalists. 
The  supporters  of  spiritualistic  Rationalism 
recognize  the  existence  of  a  personal  God,  dis¬ 
tinct  from  the  world,  infinitely  perfect.  With 
Christians  they  affirm  that  this  God  is  one  and 
the  Creator  of  all  things;  they  defend  the  spir¬ 
itual  nature,  liberty  and  immortality  of  the 
soul;  they  admit  an  absolute  and  immutable 
moral  law,  the  necessary  basis  of  the  distinction 
between  moral  good  and  evil,  and  they  confess 
that  rewards  and  punishments  are  reserved  in  a 
future  life  for  men  who  observe  or  violate  the 
precepts  of  this  law ;  but  they  do  not  define  the 
nature  of  these  rewards  and  punishments,  nor 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  143 

their  duration.  They  say,  moreover,  that  man 
owes  a  worship  to  God;  but  they  do  not  say  in 
what  this  worship  consists.  This,  in  its  essen¬ 
tial  features,  is  the  moral  and  religious  creed  of 
many  cultivated  and  honest  minds  who  will  not 
receive  the  Christian  Faith,  and  absolutely  re¬ 
ject  whatever  is  supernatural. 

It  is  the  fear  of  the  supernatural  which 
causes  these  Rationalists,  without  denying  the 
doctrine  of  Divine  Providence,  singularly  to 
lower  it.  They  reject  all  positive  intervention 
of  God  in  the  world,  because  otherwise  they 
must  admit  miracles,  which  would  destroy 
their  system.  They  do  not  even  recognize  the 
legitimacy  and  efficacy  of  prayer  in  the  sense 
of  petition :  they  pretend  that  God  can  not 
derogate  from  the  general  law  of  the  universe 
in  order  to  bestow  certain  favors,  whether  in  the 
moral,  religious,  on  material  order,  on  any  in¬ 
dividual  man  who  asks  for  them. 

What  becomes  of  religion  with  such  doctrines 
as  these  ?  To  what  is  the  dogma  of  Providence 
reduced  ?  To  this :  that  God  exercises  no  direct 
action  on  the  world ;  that  he  is  a  stranger  to  the 
life  of  humanity;  that  truth  and  error,  good  and 
evil,  the  happiness  and  misery  of  man,  are  mat¬ 
ters  of  profound  indifference  to  him ;  that  it  is 
enough  for  him  to  have  created  the  world ; 
henceforth  he  has  no  further  concern  with  it, 


144  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

that  it  must  go  on  as  it  can,  and  that  each  crea¬ 
ture  must  suffice  to  itself.  I  protest  that  I  can¬ 
not  understand  how  any  one  who  believes  in  a 
personal  and  infinitely  perfect  God  can  reduce 
him  to  act  such  a  part  as  this.  Truly  this  God 
of  Rationalism  is  hut  the  statue  of  God ;  he  is 
not  the  living  God.  This  is  the  remark  of  M. 
Guizot,  who  was  long  in  the  trammels  of  Ra¬ 
tionalism:  “The  best  among  Rationalists,”  he 
says,  “only  suffer  the  statue  of  God  (if  such  an 
expression  may  he  used) — the  statue  only,  an  • 
image,  a  piece  of  marble — to  subsist  in  the 
world  and  in  the  human  soul.  God  himself  is 
no  longer  there.  Christians  alone  possess  the 
living  God.  It  is  this  living  God,”  adds  the 
statesman,  “whom  we  need.  It  is  requisite  for 
our  present  and  future  salvation  that  faith  in 
the  supernatural  order,  that  reverence  for  the 
submission  to  the  supernatural  order,  should  be 
restored  to  the  world  and  to  the  human  soul  in 
great  minds  as  in  simple  minds,  in  the  highest 
ranks  as  well  as  in  the  humblest.  On  this  con¬ 
dition  rests  the  truly  efficacious  and  regenerat¬ 
ing  influence  of  religious  belief.  Without  this 
it  is  superficial,  and  all  but  vain.”* 

Assuredly  spiritualistic  Rationalism — which 
is  undoubtedly  the  best,  the  noblest,  the  most 
honest  form  of  unbelief,  is,  in  my  opinion, 
anything  but  reasonable. 


*  Meditations  et  Etudes  morales,  preface.  Paris,  1852. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 


145 


PART  II. 


CHAPTER  I. 
What  Faith  is. 


ANY  people  have  a  strange  idea  of 
II  religious  Faith.  Some  look  upon  it 
as  only  an  office  of  the  imagination, 
or,  at  most,  of  the  feelings.  According  to  them 
religion  is  wholly  in  the  sensible  part  of  the 
soul ;  reason  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Hence 
they  consider  all  religions  as  indifferent  in 
themselves.  Religious  feeling  may  be  produced 
under  diverse  forms ;  these  forms  are  of  no  im¬ 
portance  ;  it  is  sufficient  that  the  feeling  be 
sincere,  and  that  it  show  itself  by  the  homage 
of  a  respectful  submission  to  the  Divinity. 
The  question  of  doctrine  and  truth  wholly  dis¬ 
appears  ;  it  is  of  no  moment  to  know  whether  a 
religious  belief  be  true  or  false,  if  it  be  conform¬ 
able  or  contrary  to  reason;  all  is  judged  exclu¬ 
sively  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  heart.  This 
is  truly  a  senseless  opinion,  insulting  alike  to 
10 


146  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

reason  and  to  God.  Yet  a  great  number  of  men 
hold  it,  according  to  whom  Christian  Faith  is 
a  blind  sentiment,  more  or  less  respectable, 
which  may  be  good  enough  for  the  common 
people,  but  is  nnworthy  of  a  cultivated  mind 
guided  by  the  light  of  reason. 

On  the  other  hand,  men  are  to  be  found  who 
place  themselves  at  a  wholly  opposite  point  of 
view ;  who  persuade  themselves  that  faith  is  the 
work  of  the  understanding  alone,  that  feeling 
and  the  will  have  no  part  in  it;  and  they  con¬ 
clude  thence  that  faith  is  not  free,  that  it  in 
no  way  depends  on  us,  and  that  if  some  receive 
the  Christian  creed  whilst  others  reject  it,  it 
is  because  they  see,  or  think  they  see,  what  is 
hidden  from  the  others.  If  it  were  so,  unbelief 
could  never  be  a  sin ;  at  most,  putting  things  at 
their  worst,  it  would  only  be  a  mistake.  Men 
who  reason  thus  can  have  reflected  but  little  on 
the  part  the  will  plays  in  the  adhesion  of  the 
soul  to  truth. 

Let  us  begin  by  recalling  the  principles  of 
Catholic  theology  on  the  nature  of  faith. 
When  these  principles  are  known,  it  will  be 
easier  to  discern  the  causes  of  infidelity.  It  is 
necessary  to  know  exactly  what  the  Christian 
Faith  is  in  order  that  we  may  comprehend 
what  the  obstacles  are  which  hinder  its  birth 
and  growth  in  a  soul,  that  we  may  know  what 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  147 

things  are  most  likely  to  weaken  or  even  ex¬ 
tinguish  it  in  a  soul  where  it  already  exists. 

To  believe,  in  the  religious  and  Christian 
sense  of  the  word,  is  to  adhere  to  any  truth  on 
the  authority  of  God,  who  is  the  revealer  of 
that  truth.  Human  faith  accepts  a  thing  on 
the  testimony  of  man;  Divine  and  Christian 
Faith  on  the  testimony  of  God.  We  believe  all 
the  articles  of  the  Catholic  creed,  because  we 
are  convinced  that  all  these  articles  have  been 
revealed  by  God,  and  consequently  they  have 
for  their  warrant  the  testimony  of  God  Himself. 
We  do  not  adhere  to  such  or  such  a  doctrine  as 
the  object  of  our  Faith,  on  the  word  of  the 
Pope,  or  of  the  Church.  In  our  eyes  the 
Church  is  but  a  means  of  going  to  God,  a  me¬ 
dium  divinely  established  to  communicate  the 
teaching  of  God  to  us.  The  Church  is  not  the 
Truth ;  she  is  its  guardian  and  its  organ ;  she 
hears  witness  to  the  Truth. 

We  must  observe,  hv  the  way,  that  the  Cath¬ 
olic  Church  and  the  Divine  Pevelation  made  in 
Jesus  Christ  are  two  things  absolutely  insep- 
erable.  From  the  moment  we  admit  that  God 
has  made  a  divine  and  supernatural  revelation 
to  the  human  race,  and  that  he  has  prescribed 
a  religion  for  men  to  follow,  we  must  also  nec¬ 
essarily  admit  that  his  providence  has  estab¬ 
lished  an  authority  charged  to  maintain  this 


148  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

religion  pure  and  entire,  to  preserve  it,  and  to 
propagate  it.  It  is  absurd,  supremely  absurd, 
to  suppose  that  God  would  reveal  and  establish 
the  religion  which  men  must  follow  in  order  to 
attain  their  end,  and  then  leave  this  religion  to 
itself,  abandon  it  to  chance,  without  any  care 
for  its  fate,  suffering  it  to  become  corrupt  and 
to  fade  away  by  contact  with  time,  and  the  in¬ 
terested  caprices  and  innumerable  moral  and 
intellectual  weaknesses  which  human  nature  • 
continually  displays.  A  God  who  could  act 
thus  could  not  be  to  us  a  personal  God,  infinitely 
wise  and  perfect ;  he  would  be  a  being  as  inex¬ 
plicable  as  the  god  of  Epicurus,  a  god  whom 
reason  must  disown.  Many  Protestant  authors, 
in  spite  of  their  prejudices,  recognize  the  nec¬ 
essary  and  indissoluble  union  between  Chris¬ 
tian  revelation  and  the  Church.  “When  we 
start  from  a  supernatural  principle  in  religion,” 
says  Staeudlin,  “we  must  necessarily  admit 
that  the  Divinity,  who  has  deigned  to  make  this 
revelation  to  man,  must  have  taken  care  that  it 
should  not  be  abandoned  to  the  arbitrary  judg¬ 
ment  of  men;  not  to  admit  this  principle  is  to 
argue  inconsistently.”*  “What  the  doctrine  of 
Divine  Providence  is  with  regard  to  the  crea¬ 
tion,”  says  another  Protestant  writer,  “such  is 
the  doctrine  of  the  infallibility  of  the  Church 


*  Staeudlin’s  Magazine,  vol.  iii.  p.  83. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  149 

with  regard  to  Divine  Revelation.  They  must 
stand  or  fall  together. ”* 

The  Divine  Word,  which  the  Church  does  but 
repeat  and  explain  to  men,  cannot  deceive.  God 
is  Truth,  and  the  Truth  does  not  lie.  When  it 
is  once  thoroughly  established  that  a  doctrine 
comes  from  God,  it  would  be  absurd  to  demand 
other  proofs  of  the  truth  of  this  doctrine.  Peo¬ 
ple  do  not  ask  Truth  if  it  speaks  the  truth.  Our 
Faith,  resting  on  the  authority  of  the  Divine 
Word,  is  therefore  sheltered  from  all  error;  the 
foundation  on  which  it  rests  is  immovable.  It 
is  supremely  reasonable,  for  it  depends  on  the 
veracity  of  God  himself,  who  is  infinite  reason. 

We  are  certain  that  the  doctrines  to  which  we 
adhere  by  Divine  Catholic  Faith  really  come 
from  God.  We  do  not  admit  lightly  or  without 
cause  the  fact  of  Divine  Revelation;  we  believe 
it  on  the  authority  of  truths  whose  evidence  in 
our  eyes  is  absolutely  incontestable,  and  twenty 
times  more  striking  than  that  which  surrounds 
the  best  authenticated  historical  facts.  These 
proofs  form  what  is  called  in  theology  motives 
of  credibility.  These  are  the  preliminaries  of 
faith — preliminaries  which  human  reason  has 
a  right  to  demand,  and  may  examine  by  the 
light  of  earnest,  upright,  loyal  criticism.  Chris¬ 
tianity  does  not  fear  an  attentive  and  thorough 


*  N.  Qnartalschrift,  Jahrgang  ix.  n.  3. 


150  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

examination  of  its  title-deeds.  On  the  con¬ 
trary,  it  calls  for  it.  But  people  must  not  de¬ 
ceive  themselves.  However  evident  the  motives 
of  credibility  may  he  in  themselves,  they  do  not 
suffice  to  produce  faith  in  the  soul ;  they  prepare 
the  way  for  faith,  but  they  do  not  create  it. 
The  causes  on  which  faith  depends  are  higher, 
and  of  a  more  interior  nature.  Here  we  must 
strive  to  understand  thoroughly  the  teaching  of 
Catholic  theology,  throwing  light,  as  it  does,  . 
upon  depths  whose  existence  is  not  even  sus¬ 
pected  by  multitudes  of  inattentive  and  super¬ 
ficial  minds. 

St.  Thomas  Aquinas  gives  the  following  defi¬ 
nition  of  faith:  “To  believe  is  an  act  of  the 
understanding  adhering  to  Divine  Truth  by 
command  of  the  will,  which  is  moved  by  the 
grace  of  God.  The  act  of  faith  is  subject  to 
free  will  in  relation  with  God,  and  therefore  it 
is  meritorious.”*  We  shall  make  a  brief  com¬ 
mentary  on  this  definition,  in  which  all  is  com¬ 
prised.  Baith  is  the  result  of  the  combined 
action  of  God  and  man.  Let  us  see  first  what 
man  does ;  then  we  will  show  what  he  receives 
from  God,  and  how  far  he  must  be  aided  by 
God  in  order  to  believe  with  a  supernatural  and 
true  faith. t 

*  Summa  Theol.  2,  2,  q.  ii.  art.  9. 

t  “To  believe  is  in  the  first  place  an  act  of  the  intellect,  be¬ 
cause  the  object  of  this  act  is  ‘the  true,’  which  properly  per¬ 
tains  to  the  intellect.” — Ibid.  q.  iv.  art.  3. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  151 

The  understanding  does  not  act  alone  in  man 
in  the  formation  of  the  act  of  Faith,  but  the 
will  also,  and  principally;  it  is  the  act  of  the 
whole  soul,  with  all  its  faculties,  all  its  powers. 
To  believe  is  assuredly,  as  St.  Thomas  says,  an 
act  of  the  understanding,  because  the  object  of 
Faith  is  Divine  Truth,  and  truth  in  itself  is  the 
object  of  the  understanding,  and  not  of  the  will ; 
the  understanding  is  made  to  know  that  which 
is  true,  the  will  to  love  and  conform  itself  to 
that  which  is  good.  It  is  therefore  exact  to  say 
that  faith  is  the  direct  and  immediate  act  of 
the  understanding,  not  of  the  will.  But  it  is 
only  by  the  intervention  of  the  will  which 
moves,  directs  and  commands  it,  that  the  under¬ 
standing  accepts  Divine  Truth,  and  gives  ad¬ 
hesion  and  assent  to  it.  There  is  no  constraint 
upon  the  will  with  regard  to  the  direction  it 
shall  take,  and  in  which  it  will  be  followed  by 
the  understanding:  the  will  is  free.  Undoubt¬ 
edly  it  can,  under  grave  responsibility,  choose 
between  two  contrarv  directions,  and,  conse- 
quently,  either  unite  and  bind  the  understand¬ 
ing  to  truth,  or  turn  it  away,  and  precipitate  it 
into  error.  On  this  account,  the  act  of  faith, 
on  the  firm  adhesion  of  the  understanding  to 
Divine  Truth,  is  meritorious;  it  is  a  free  act, 
free  with  a  liberty  subject  to  trial,  and  not  yet 
fixed  in  the  love  and  possession  of  the  truth. 


152  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

Suarez  justly  observes  that,  to  accomplish  the 
act  of  faith,  it  is  not  sufficient  that  there  be  no 
repugnance  in  the  will  to  believe;  it  is  neces¬ 
sary  that  by  a  positive  act  it  move  the  under¬ 
standing  to  attach  itself  to  revealed  truth.*  It 
is,  then,  the  will  that  is  the  principal  agent 
of  faith  in  us.  It  is  not  the  understand¬ 
ing,  but  the  will,  which  decides  with  regard  to 
faith.  In  order  to  believe  we  must  will  to  be¬ 
lieve  ;  will  it  positively  and  seriously ;  the 
direction  and  assent  of  the  understanding  de¬ 
pend  upon  the  will.  In  this  sense  St.  Augus¬ 
tine  says,  and  St.  Thomas  repeats  after  him,  that 
Faith  dwells  in  the  will  of  those  who  believe: 
“Fides  consistit  in  credentium  voluntateffif 

I  fear  that  this  doctrine,  which  gives  so  great 
a  preponderance  to  the  will  in  the  act  of  faith, 
may  astonish  and  disturb  more  than  one  of  my 
readers  who  are  accustomed  to  look  only  to  the 
understanding  when  the  knowledge  and  accep¬ 
tance  of  truth  are  in  question.  But  they  may 
be  reassured.  I  am  confident  that  if  thev  will 

t / 

read  to  the  end  they  will  see  that  the  principles 
of  Catholic  theology,  on  the  adhesion  of  the 
soul  to  Divine  Truth,  are  in  harmony  with  the 
fundamental  and  intimate  laws  of  our  nature, 
and  can  be  misunderstood  only  by  a  prodigiously 


*  Be  Fide.  disp.  vi.  sect.  vi.  n.  7. 
t  See  St.  Thom.  loc.  cit.  q.  vi.  a.  1. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Uribelief.  153 

superficial  psychology.  I  will  confine  myself 
for  the  present  to  some  short  remarks. 

Most  theologians,  in  explaining  the  free  and 
meritorious  character  of  the  act  of  faith,  con¬ 
tent  themselves  with  observing,  “That  the  ob¬ 
ject  of  faith  is  obscure  to  us — not  evident  in 
itself.  Thus  the  dogmas  of  the  Holy  Trinity, 
of  the  Incarnation,  of  the  Redemption,  of  the 
Eucharist,  for  example,  are  certainly  not  in 
themselves  evident  to  our  reason ;  they  are  mys¬ 
teries  ;  that  is  to  say,  obscure  truths  superior  to 
reason,  truths  in  which,”  as  Leibnitz  remarks, 
“sober  minds  will  always  find  sufficient  explana¬ 
tion  to  believe,  and  never  as  much  as  is  needed 
to  comprehend.”*  The  proofs  which  hear  testi¬ 
mony  to  the  existence  of  Divine  Revelation  are 
evident — they  ought  to  he  evident,  they  are  the 
motives  of  credibility — hut  the  things  revealed, 
being  above  reason,  remain  obscure ;  not  wholly 
obscure,  doubtless,  for  in  that  case  they  could 
not  he  known,  and  faith  would  be  impossible, 
but  in  that  kind  of  half-obscurity  which  excludes 
evidence.  This  defect  of  evidence,  as  theolo¬ 
gians  justly  remark,  explains  the  possibility  of 
hesitation  and  denial  on  the  part  of  the  under¬ 
standing,  and  shows  the  necessity  of  the  pre¬ 
ponderance  given  to  the  will  in  the  accomplish¬ 
ment  of  the  act  of  faith. 


*  Discours  de>  la  Conform'ite  de  la  Foi  avec  la  Raison ,  n.  56. 


154  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

This  is  elementary  to  any  one  who  reflects. 
The  mind,  not  being  subjugated  by  evidence, 
may  accept  or  reject  the  truth  that  is  offered  to 
it ;  all  depends  on  the  disposition  of  the  will. 

But  we  must  go  further.  Supposing  the 
truths  proposed  were  not  superior  to  reason,  a 
sad  and  daily  experience  shows  that  reason 
might  still  reject  them.  Liberty  plays  a  consid¬ 
erable  part  even  in  the  domain  of  truths  of  the 
natural  order,  on  which  the  clearness  of  rational 
evidence  sheds  light.  Is  not  the  existence  of 
God  evident  ?  And  vet  men  are  to  be  found — 
I  mean  learned  men,  men  of  cultivated  minds— 
who  are  ignorant  of  God,  or  who  form  so  un¬ 
natural  a  notion  of  him  that  the  God  whom  they 
seem  to  acknowledge  presents  none  of  the  fea¬ 
tures  of  the  living  and  true  God.  What  is  more 
evident  than  the  freedom  and  immortality  of  the 
soul  ?  And  yet  these  truths  meet  with  contradic¬ 
tion,  and  obstinate  contradiction.  Whence 
comes  this  ?  Do  not  these  facts  offer  abundant 
proof  that  the  assent  of  the  mind  remains  free 
even  in  the  face  of  evidence  ?  How  could  it  be 
free  if  the  will — the  sole  power  in  us  which  is 
free — did  not  intervene  in  the  judgments  we 
form  ? 

We  must  not  forget  that  our  understanding  is 
not  a  solitary  faculty,  living  and  acting  by  itself 
alone  in  entire  independence.  It  is  closely 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  155 

united  to  the  other  powers  of  our  soul,  and  is 
moved  and  governed  by  the  will,  the  centre  and 
chief  of  these  powers.  The  will  makes  the  man 
in  the  moral  and  religious  order,  as  it  does  in 
the  social  order ;  and  it  exercises  an  incalculable 
power  even  in  the  order  which  appears  purely 
intellectual.  I  shall  return  to  this  subject 
hereafter. 

Let  us  now  show,  according  to  Catholic  teach¬ 
ing,  what  part  is  necessarily  borne  by  God  in 
the  act  of  faith. 

“To  believe/’  says  St.  Thomas,  “depends  on 
the  will  of  those  who  believe;  but  the  will  of 
man  must  be  prepared  by  God  through  grace, 
and  thus  be  raised  to  the  supernatural  order.”* 
Faith  appertains  to  the  supernatural  order; 
hence  it  cannot  be  the  work  of  nature,  nor  of 
our  soul  abandoned  to  its  own  strength.  Let  us 
hear  the  second  Council  of  Orange  on  this  point, 
whose  decisions  -have  been  received  as  rules  of 
faith  throughout  the  whole  Catholic  Church. 
“If  any  one  shall  say  that  by  the  powers  of  na¬ 
ture  we  can  do  any  good  in  order  to  the  salva¬ 
tion  of  eternal  life — that  we  can  think  or 
choose  as  we  ought,  or  consent  to  the  preaching 
of  salvation,  that  is  to  say,  to  the  Gospel,  with¬ 
out  the  light  and  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
who  gives  to  all  the  sweetness  which  makes  us 


*  Summa  Theol.  2,  2,  q.  vi.  ad  3um. 


156  Causes  and  Cure  of  Uribelief. 

consent  to  and  believe  the  truth — such  an  one 
is  seduced  by  the  spirit  of  heresy,  and  hears  not 
the  voice  of  God,  which  says  in  the  Gospel, 
‘Without  me  you  can  do  nothing’  (St.  John  15 : 
5).”*  “If  any  one  shall  say  that  the  beginning 
as  well  as  the  increase  of  faith,  and  even  the 
pious  sentiment  by  which  we  believe  in  him  who 
justifies  the  ungodly,  and  attain  the  new  birth 
of  holy  baptism,  is  in  us  naturally,  and  not  by 
the  gift  of  grace,  that  is  to  say,  by  the  inspira¬ 
tion  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  corrects  our  will, 
and  turns  it  from  infidelity  to  faith,  from  im¬ 
piety  to  piety — such  an  one  shows  himself  op¬ 
posed  to  the  apostolic  dogma,  the  blessed  Paul 
saying,  ‘Being  confident  that  he  who  hath  begun 
a  good  work  in  you  will  perfect  it  unto  the  day 
of  Christ  Jesus’  (Phil.  1:6);  and  elsewhere, 
‘Unto  you  it  is  given  for  Christ,  not  only  to  be¬ 
lieve  in  him,  but  also  to  suffer  for  him’  (v.  29)  ; 
and,  ‘Por  by  grace  you  are  saved  through  faith, 
and  that  not  of  yourselves,  for  it  is  the  gift  of 
God’  (Ephes.  2:8).”t 

These  decisions  of  the  Council  of  Orange 
were  confirmed  by  Pope  Boniface  II.  In  the 
letter  which  the  Pontiff  wrote  on  this  subject  to 
the  illustrious  Saint  Cesarius  of  Arles,  who  had 
presided  over  the  Council,  we  read:  “We  re¬ 
joice  greatly  that  in  the  Council  which  you  and 


*  Caput  vii. 


t  Caput  v. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief,  157 

certain  Bishops  of  Gaul  have  held,  the  Catholic 
Faith  has  been  followed,  in  defining  by  common 
consent,  as  vou  point  out,  that  the  faith  by 
which  we  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  is  given  us  by 
Divine  Grace  preventing  us.  ...  For  it  is  a 
certain  and  Catholic  dogma,  that  in  all  good 
works,  of  which  faith  is  the  chief,  even  before 
we  have  yet  willed,  Divine  Mercy  prevents  us, 
in  order  that  we  may  will ;  it  accompanies  us 
when  we  will,  and  follows  us  in  order  that  we 
may  persevere  in  the  faith.”* 

Grace  must  therefore  prevent  our  will,  and 
incline  us  to  consent  to,  and  to  believe  revealed 
truth ;  it  must  accompany  and  sustain  our 
changeable  and  inconsistent  will  in  this  holy 
disposition ;  finally,  it  must  follow  the  good  will 
it  has  inspired,  and  help  us  to  will  to  adhere 
always  to  the  Word  of  God. 

Nothing  in  the  principles  of  Christianity  can 
be  more  simple  or  more  logical  than  this  doc¬ 
trine.  We  are  not  created  for  a  purely  natural 
end,  one  to  be  realized  bv  the  mere  exercise  of 
our  natural  powers,  but  for  a  supernatural  end, 
above  the  reach  of  our  faculties.  This  end  is  to 
see  God  face  to  face,  or  in  his  essence,  as  he  is 
in  himself,  a  single  nature  subsisting  in  three 
distinct  persons ;  to  possess  him  fully,  and  to 
enjoy  the  happiness  attached  to  such  possession. 

*  Labbe,  Concil.  tom.  iv.  col.  1688. 


158  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

This  vision  of  God,  this  beatitude,  is  mani¬ 
festly  above  nature.  How  can  we  attain  it  ? 
The  happiness  of  a  free  and  intelligent  being 
consists  in  the  realization  of  his  end,  and  he 
must  achieve  it  by  his  own  acts ;  but  the  acts  of 
man,  in  themselves,  are  not  means  proportioned 
to  an  end  superior  to  nature.  In  order,  there¬ 
fore,  that  there  may  be  harmony  or  proportion 
between  the  means  and  the  end,  it  is  necessary 
that  these  acts  should  be  elevated,  ennobled, 
transformed,  by  a  principle  superior  to  nature, 
and  thus  become  supernatural;  this  principle  is 
grace.  Is  it  not  a  common  axiom  that  means 
must  be  proportioned  to  their  end  ?  If,  then, 
the  end  of  man  is  supernatural,  his  acts,  which 
are  the  means  by  which  he  must  attain  this  end, 
must  of  necessity  be  supernatural,  and  conse¬ 
quently  animated  by  a  principle  superior  to 
nature.  This  reasoning  appears  to  me  geomet¬ 
rically  exact. 

Grace,  by  which  God  enlightens  our  under¬ 
standing  with  a  supernatural  light,  attracts,  for¬ 
tifies  and  elevates  our  will,  sows  in  us  the  seed 
of  that  higher  life  which  is  to  become  the 
Christian  life,  and  will  be  the  initiation  and 
first  faint  sketch  of  that  eternal  life,  which  be¬ 
gins  upon  earth  and  will  be  finished  and  con¬ 
summated  in  the  glory  of  heaven.  “Grace  and 
glory,”  says  St.  Thomas,  “  are  generically  one ; 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  151) 

because  grace  is  nothing  else  than  a  certain  be¬ 
ginning  of  glory  in  us.”*  How  faith  is  pre¬ 
cisely  the  beginning  of  that  supernatural  life, 
of  which  the  glory  of  the  beatific  vision  will 
be  but  the  marvellous  completion.  It  is  by 
faith  that  man  enters  of  full  right,  if  I  may 
thus  speak,  in  the  supernatural  order.  It  is, 
therefore,  easy  to  understand  the  indispensable 
necessity  of  grace  for  the  act  of  faith. 

There  are  three  kinds  of  life  possible  to  man 
in  this  world:  the  life  of  the  body  or  of  the 
senses ;  the  life  of  mere  natural  reason ;  the  life 
of  grace,  raised  above  nature  by  faith,  and 
working  by  charity.  “The  first,”  says  a  relig¬ 
ious  writer,  whose  simple,  frank  language  I  will 
venture  to  borrow,  “is  the  life  of  an  animal ; 
the  second,  the  life  of  a  man ;  the  third,  the  life 
of  a  Christian.  .  .  .  The  carnal  man,”  adds 
this  author,  “the  man  whollv  immersed  in  the 
animal  life — a  drunkard,  for  example — can  con¬ 
ceive  nothing  beyond  eating  and  drinking,  noth¬ 
ing  beyond  the  body  and  what  flatters  the  senses. 
All  that  is  intellectual — science,  poetry,  moral 
beauty — all  is  folly  to  him.  The  rationalist  or 
philosopher,  wholly  taken  up  with  nature,  can 
conceive  nothing  above  human  reason.  All  that 
is  supernatural  and  divine — faith,  grace — is 
folly  to  him.  He  is  to  the  Christian  what  the 

*  Loc.  cit.  q.  iv.  art.  9  ad  2m. 


160  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

drunkard  is  to  the  philosopher.  The  carnal  man 
may  mistake  or  deny  the  intellectual  order :  that 
order,  none  the  less,  exists.  In  the  same  way 
the  rationalist  may  mistake  or  deny  the  super¬ 
natural  order,  the  order  of  grace :  that  order, 
none  the  less,  exists.  The  carnal  man,  who 
would  raise  himself  to  the  intellectual  order, 
must  in  some  sort  die  to  himself  in  order  to 
enter  a  new  state  of  existence,  a  new  world. 
The  rationalist  who  would  raise  himself  to  the 
supernatural  order,  the  order  of  grace  and 
faith,  is  obliged  in  some  sort  to  die  to  himself, 
in  order  to  enter  a  new  state  of  existence,  a  new  * 
world  such  as  he  had  never  even  suspected.  The 
carnal  man  in  becoming  a  rational  man  ceases 
not  to  be  a  man,  but  becomes  better  and  nobler. 
The  rational  man  in  becoming  a  man  of  faith 
ceases  not  to  become  a  rational  man,  he  becomes 
a  man  of  Divine  reason.”* 

Rationalism  recognizes  only  the  first  two  of 
these  states — life  according  to  the  senses  and 
life  according  to  reason ;  it  altogether  denies  the 
supernatural  life,  the  life  of  faith.  Such  a  de¬ 
nial  is  precisely  as  well  founded  as  that  of  the 
animal  man,  who  denies  the  life  of  reason  be¬ 
cause  it  is  extinct  in  him.  Maine  de  Biran, 
after  having  himself  traversed  all  the  phases  of 

Rationalism,  came  to  discern  clearly  these  three 

¥ 

•  Rohrbacher,  De  la  Grace  et  de  la  Nature,  xxxii.  and  xl. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  161 

states  of  existence  in  man,  by  simply  psycho¬ 
logical  observation;  and  with  the  exception  of 
a  few  inaccuracies  of  language,  unavoidable  in 
one  who  is  a  stranger  to  theological  study,  he 
has  described  them  well. 

lie  names  these  three  conditions  of  life,  the 
animal  life,  the  human  life,  the  spiritual  life. 

Whatever  blind  philosophy  may  say,  faith 
does  not  destroy  nor  lower  reason,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  strengthens  and  raises  it  in  a  singular 
degree.  Did  faith  lower  the  reason  of  St.  Au¬ 
gustine,  St.  Thomas,  Leibnitz,  Bossuet,  of 
Joseph  Gorres  ?  Faith  gives  to  human  reason  a 
superior  light,  which,  at  the  same  time  that  it 
discovers  absolutely  new  horizons  to  our  gaze, 
illuminates  the  domain  which  the  eyes  of  our 
understanding  have  already  discerned  with  a 
clearer  and  brighter  light.  Philosophers  who 
reject  faith  to  confine  themselves  to  mere  reason 
are  just  like  astronomers  who  would  lay  aside 
the  telescope  to  study  the  heavens  with  their 
nakod  eye.  Faith  is  the  telescope  of  human 
reason.  Armed  with  this  powerful  help  our 
understanding  has  a  clearer  conception  of  that 
which  is  within  its  reach,  and  in  the  heaven  of 
heavens,  beyond  its  natural  horizon,  it  discovers 
new  and  marvellous  worlds,  to  which  its  unaided 
vision  could  never  have  attained.  To  reject 
faith  is  manifestly  to  diminish  reason,  and  to 
11 


162  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

deprive  it  of  its  most  wonderful  auxiliary  to 
knowledge.. 

Faith,  inasmuch  as  it  is  light,  produces  a 
twofold  effect  in  us :  first,  it  reveals  to  us  truths 
of  the  supernatural  order;  next,  it  adds  to  the 
rational  evidence  of  the  light  of  reason  in  the 
circle  of  truths  of  the  purely  natural  order, 
such  as  the  existence  of  God,  his  attributes,  the 
Creation  of  the  world,  Providence,  the  spiritual 
nature,  liberty,  and  immortality  of  the  soul. 
More  than  this,  faith,  as  light  and  as  power, 
purifies  the  eye  of  the  understanding  from  a 
thousand  foreign  elements,  which  embarrass  it, 
and  hinder  its  free  exercise ;  it  gives  a  movement 
to  the  will  which  turns  it  toward  God  and  the 
intelligible  world,  and  at  the  same  time  raises 
the  whole  soul,  helps  it  to  shake  off  the  yoke  of 
those  things  that  are  inferior  to  its  nature,  and 
leads  it  toward  those  higher  regions  in  which 
its  destiny  calls  it  to  move  and  live.  Faith  is 
a  power  which  struggles  against  the  inclination, 
unhappily  innate  in  fallen  man,  which  drags 
our  soul  toward  inferior  objects,  and  imparts  to 
us  a  contrary  inclination.  Plato  would  say 
that  faith  restores  to  the  human  soul  the  wings 
that  were  broken  in  its  fall. 

Let  no  one  infer  from  the  Catholic  dogma 
that  grace  is  necessary  to  enable  us  to  believe 
with  a  divine  supernatural  faith,  that  there  are 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  163 

therefore  men  necessarily  condemned  to  be 
without  faith,  because  God  has  not  given  them 
the  grace  to  believe.  The  Church — which 
knows  God,  and  beholds  in  him  a  compassionate 
Father,  and  not  an  unjust  master,  gathering 
where  he  has  not  sown — teaches  that  he  refuses 
grace  to  none.  It  is  also  Catholic  dogma  that 
God  wills  all  men  to  he  saved,  and  that  he  offers 
to  all  the  grace  necessary  to  enable  them  to  ac¬ 
quire  the  ineffable  glory  to  which  he  bids  them. 
The  Council  of  Trent  declares  that  “God  com¬ 
mands  nothing  impossible ;  when  he  orders  any¬ 
thing,  he  at  the  same  time  warns  us  to  do  what 
we  can,  to  ask  for  what  we  cannot  do  of  our¬ 
selves,  and  he  will  help  us  to  do  it.”* 

To  ask  for  wThat  we  are  unable  to  attain  of 
ourselves  is  the  ordinary  condition  which  God 
imposes  for  the  bestowing  of  his  favors.  He 
wills  that  we,  who  are  created  and  essentiallv 
dependent  beings,  should  confess  our  own  in¬ 
sufficiency,  and  implore  the  aid  of  him  from 
"whom  light  and  strength  descend.  The  old 
man  who  discovered  the  teaching  of  the  Gospel 
to  the  philosopher  Justin,  when  he  was  seeking 
for  the  truth,  said  to  him,  “Pray  that  the  gates 
of  light  may  be  opened  before  you;  for  no  one 
can  see  and  comprehend  these  things  unless 


*  Sess.  vi.  cap.  xi. 


164  Causes  and  Cure  of  U7ibelief. 

God  and  his  Christ  give  him  understanding.”* 
Justin  followed  this  counsel,  and  was  rewarded 
by  a  faith  which  he  sealed  with  his  blood.  If 
men  who  do  not  believe  would  pray  as  this  ar¬ 
dent  and  generous  philosopher  prayed,  they 
would,  I  am  convinced,  soon  believe  with  a 
faith  as  firm  as  his. 


*  Dial,  cum  Tryph  n.  7.  See  above,  p.  37. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  165 


CHAPTER  II. 

Infidelity — In  what  it  consists. 

tlSTETDELITY  is  the  opposite  of  faith. 
What  we  have  just  said  of  the  nature 
and  condition  of  faith  may  make  us  un¬ 
derstand  what  constitutes  the  ground  of  unbe¬ 
lief.  But  we  will  add  a  few  words  to  describe 
it  in  a  more  precise  and  complete  manner. 

Generally  speaking,  we  call  any  one  an  in¬ 
fidel  or  unbeliever  who  does  not  bend  his  reason 
before  Divine  Revelation  and  submit  to  its  au¬ 
thority.  Infidelity  is  the  denial  of  all  Divine 
Revelation — of  the  primitive  revelation  made 
to  the  father  of  the  human  race,  continued  later 
to  the  patriarchs,  then  to  the  prophets  of  God’s 
people,  and  finally  accomplished  in  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Author  and  Finisher  of  our  Faith. 
Unbelief  denies  the  supernatural  order  of  which 
we  spoke  just  now,  and  the  miraculous  order 
which  supposes  and  involves  a  Divine  Revela¬ 
tion.  It  denies  any  determinate  and  positive 
intervention  of  God  in  the  history  of  humanity. 
It  absolutely  ignores  the  immense  divine  fact 


166  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

which  occupies  the  two  epochs  of  history — the 
epoch  of  the  ages  anterior  to  Jesus  Christ,  and 
the  epoch  of  the  ages  which  followed  Him — the 
fact  which  shines  with  incomparable  brilliancy 
in  Christian  society,  the  most  moral,  learned, 
civilized,  powerful  society  that  the  world  has 
ever  seen.  The  infidel  pretends  to  rely  solely 
upon  reason ;  he  admits  no  other  light  than  the 
natural  light;  he  recognizes  no  other  facts  than 
those  which  can  be  explained  by  natural  causes ; 
miracles  in  his  eyes  are  a  chimera  as  much  as 
Divine  Revelation;  he  rejects  all  that  surpasses 
the  power  of  nature,  as  well  as  all  that  exceeds 
the  light  of  reason. 

Such  is  the  general  character  of  infidelity  as 
it  shows  and  asserts  itself  in  the  midst  of  Chris¬ 
tian  Europe.  All  our  unbelievers,  to  whatever 
school  they  belong,  and  however  great  may  be 
their  differences,  agree  in  the  denial  of  the  su¬ 
pernatural  and  the  miraculous ;  all  make  a  boast 
of  recognizing  only  reason  and  nature.  There¬ 
fore  the  names  of  Naturalism  and  Rationalism 
express  exactly  the  common  principle  which 
unites  them. 

St.  Thomas  teaches  that  infidelity,  like  faith, 
is  an  act  of  the  understanding,  but  an  act  com¬ 
manded  by  the  will.  He  says,  “Infidelity,  as 
well  as  faith,  is  in  the  understanding  as  in  its 
immediate  subject ;  but  it  is  in  the  will  as  in  its 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  167 

first  mover.”*  lie  adds:  “It  is  the  contempt 
of  the  will  which  causes  the  dissent  of  the  un¬ 
derstanding,  and  it  is  in  this  dissent  that  in¬ 
fidelity  essentially  consists.  Hence  the  cause  of 
infidelity  is  in  the  will,  although  infidelity  it¬ 
self  is  in  the  understanding.!  Infidelity,  hav¬ 
ing  its  cause  in  the  will,  is,  like  faith,  a  free 
act ;  it  is  the  fruit  of  a  free  decision  of  the 
mind.  Therefore  it  is  imputable.  Faith  is  a 
virtue,  and  infidelity  is  a  vice.”J 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  observe  that  it 
does  not  follow  from  hence  that  every  man  who 
does  not  believe  in  the  Christian  Revelation  is 
necessarily  guilty.  A  man  may  be  unbelieving 
and  yet  not  an  infidel  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
word.  Infidelity,  properly  so  called,  as  St. 
Thomas  defines  it,  supposes  that  the  ignorance 
of  Divine  Revelation  is  not  wholly  involuntary. 
There  are  men  who  do  not  know,  and  who,  mor¬ 
ally  speaking,  cannot  know,  Jesus  Christ;  there¬ 
fore  these  men  do  not  believe  in  Him:  but  their 
infidelity  is  a  purely  negative  infidelity,  as  St. 
Thomas  calls  it;  they  are  non-believers  rather 
than  infidels ;  this  absence  of  faith  is  not  impu¬ 
table  to  them  because  it  is  nowise  in  their  will. 
There  is  no  real,  and  consequently  no  culpable 
infidelity,  in  the  theological  sense  of  the  word, 

•  Loc.  clt.  q.  x.  art.  2.  f  Loc.  cit.  q.  x.  art.  2  ad  2  m. 

$  St.  Thomas,  ibid.  art.  1. 


168  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

except  voluntary  infidelity.  Where  there  is  no 
freedom  there  is  no  sin ,  is  an  elementary  prin¬ 
ciple  of  morals.  But  there  is  another  principle 
no  less  elementary  which  is  too  often  for¬ 
gotten,  and  it  is  this :  a  thing  may  he  voluntary 
directly  or  indirectly,  in  itself  or  in  the  cause 
upon  which  it  depends.  God  alone  knows  the 
secret  dispositions  of  the  soul,  and  the  obstacles 
which  many  unbelievers  oppose,  more  or  less 
voluntarily,  to  faith.  It  is  indisputable  that  the 
will  plays  an  important  part  in  infidelity,  and 
this  will  be  better  understood  as  we  proceed. 

The  diverse  forms  of  Rationalism,  which  are 
but  different  degrees  of  infidelity,  would  suffice 
to  justify  the  doctrine  of  St.  Thomas  on  the  first 
and  fundamental  cause  of  unbelief,  as  I  have 
already  remarked  in  speaking  of  faith.  All  un¬ 
believers  affirm,  with  marvellous  unanimity, 
that  they  will  obey  reason  and  reason  alone; 
they  add,  with  one  voice,  that  the  language  of 
reason  is  sufficiently  clear  on  all  questions  which 
affect  the  destiny  of  man,  and  that  they  need  no 
other  teacher.  If  it  be  thus,  whence  arise  those 
radical  differences  which  divide  the  faithful 
and  respectful  disciples  of  reason  into  two  op¬ 
posite  camps?  Whence  comes  it  that  Renan, 
an  atheist  and  materialist,  contradicts  on  all 
the  principles  of  morality,  Jules  Simon,  who, 
like  him,  recognizes  no  other  authority  than 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  169 

reason  ?  Is  it  not  because  all  do  not  equally 
listen  to  the  voice  of  reason,  whose  sovereignty 
they  proclaim  in  theory  whilst  they  ignore  and 
resist  it  in  fact  ?  How  many  men  assume 
toward  reason  the  same  attitude  which  the  best 
of  the  rationalists  assume  toward  faith !  The 
sophists,  by  an  evil  and  culpable  disposition  of 
the  will,  ignore  the  authority  of  reason,  as  the 
rationalists  ignore  the  authority  of  faith. 

There  are  rebels  and  revolutionists  in  the 
kingdom  of  reason  as  there  are  in  the  kingdom 
of  faith.  There  are  also,  which  is  sometimes 
more  excusable,  sick  and  languishing  minds 
whom  the  light  wounds,  and  who  see  things 
only  through  a  deceptive  medium.  This  intel¬ 
lectual  malady  has  too  often  a  voluntary  cause ; 
but  sometimes  it  is  the  result  of  education  and 
circumstances  from  which  its  victims  have 
been  unable  to  free  themselves. 

I  have  already  pointed  out  the  principal 
forms  of  contemporary  infidelity.  In  the  first 
half  of  this  century  Pantheism  reckoned  the 
greatest  number  of  celebrated  followers ;  now 
materialism  is  regaining  favor,  and  is  received 
and  supported  by  many  learned  unbelievers. 
Evidently  neither  pantheists  nor  materialists 
follow  the  natural  light  of  reason ;  they  are  in 
open  revolt  against  it,  declared  rebels  to  its 
authority.  Spiritualistic  Rationalism  looks 


170  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

upon  them  in  this  light  as  we  do.  There  are 
also  among  our  infidels  sceptics  who  no  longer 
believe  in  any  certainty,  and  who,  despairing  to 
find  truth,  close  their  eyes  and  bury  themselves 
in  a  factitious  slumber  which  completes  the 
ruin  of  their  understanding.  They  are  sick,  and 
imagine  they  will  find  health  and  rest  in  suicide. 
Spiritualistic  Rationalism  is  certainly  the  most 
reasonable  form  of  infidelity;  but  its  most  dis¬ 
tinguished  representatives  act  with  regard  to  the 
motives  of  credibility  of  the  Christian  Faith — 
which  are  as  evident  as  the  freedom  and  im¬ 
mortality  of  the  soul — in  the  same  way  that 
sceptics,  materialists  and  pantheists  act  with 
regard  to  the  evident  truths  of  reason.  I  am 
aware  of  the  fine  pretexts  with  which  they 
cloak  their  unbelief ;  but  are  not  they  them¬ 
selves  also  awrare  of  the  pretexts  with  which  the 
miserable  crowd  of  sophists  cover  their  daring 
negations  ?  Let  them  lay  aside  pretexts,  let 
them  go  to  the  bottom  of  things,  and  with  their 
hand  on  their  conscience  dare  to  ask  themselves 
seriously  and  sincerely  why  they  do  not  believe. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief,  171 


CHAPTER  III. 


It  is  impossible  to  attribute  the  Infidelity  of 
the  Present  Day  to  the  Progress  of  Reason 
and  Science — Numerous  Conversions  among 
Learned  Men — Augustin  Thierry  and  Maine 
de  Biran. 


3 


EFORE  pointing  out  in  detail  the  real 
causes  of  unbelief,  we  will  again 
glance  at  the  pretext  ordinarily  em¬ 
ployed  by  men  of  all  kinds  who  reject  the 
Christian  Faith.  All,  whether  sceptics,  atheists, 
pantheists  or  spiritualistic  rationalists,  pretend 
that  our  belief,  which  was  perhaps  good  for  un¬ 
enlightened  ages,  cannot  sustain  critical  in¬ 
quiry  in  the  actual  condition  of  the  human 
mind ;  reason  goes  beyond  it ;  science  exposes 
its  failings  and  errors.  Certainly  it  is  strange 
to  see  a  religion  which  has  been  at  the  head  of 
civilization  for  eighteen  centuries,  and  whose 
creed  has  been  accepted,  defended,  glorified  by 
the  most  eminent  intellects  and  most  illustrious 
philosophers,  from  St.  Justin  to  Lacordaire 
and  Joseph  Gdrres,  condemned  with  such  self- 


172  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

sufficiency,  and,  we  may  add,  with  such  levity. 
Will  any  one  dare  to  say  that  there  has  ever 
been  a  society  equal  to  the  Christian  society  for 
power  of  reasoning  and  extent  of  knowledge  ? 
For  the  rest  it  seems  to  me  that  the  historical 
portion  of  this  work  has  completely  disposed 
of  the  fine  pretext  put  forward  by  rationalists 
of  every  shade.  I  protest  that  I  can  with  diffi¬ 
culty  regard  the  proud  anti-Christian  declara¬ 
tions  of  contemporary  unbelief  in  a  serious 
light,  and  were  it  not  that  charity  for  human 
souls  obliges  me  to  bear  with  the  most  unrea¬ 
sonable  prejudices,  I  should  be  tempted  to 
answer  them  only  by  contemptuous  silence.  But 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  disciples  and  ministers  of 
Jesus  Christ  to  compassionate  all  the  intellec¬ 
tual  and  moral  infirmities  of  their  brethren. 

It  is  unnecessary  here  to  examine  and  dis¬ 
cuss  directly  the  motives  of  the  non-acceptance 
which  nationalism  opposes,  in  the  name  of  phi¬ 
losophy  and  science,  to  the  teaching  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Faith;  this  has  been  done  elsewhere.*  We 
will  only  recall  a  few  contemporary  facts, 
which,  in  our  opinion,  demonstrate  that  infi¬ 
delity  has  nothing  in  common  with  scientific 
progress. 

In  the  early  ages  of  Christianity  pagan  phi- 

*  See  “Faith  and  Science,”  by  Brownson.  Pub.  by  H.  F. 
Brownson,  35  W.  Congress  St.,  Detroit. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  173 

losophers  ridiculed  the  simplicity  of  Christians, 
and  represented  them  as  the  enemies  of  reason, 
philosophy  and  science.  Celsus  and  Porphyry, 
not  to  mention  other  names,  attacked  the  Gospel 
upon  principles  similar  to  those  which  Ration¬ 
alism  now  employs.  But  these  attacks  did  not 
hinder  philosophers  and  learned  men  of  the 
first  order,  such  as  St.  Justin,  Athenagoras, 
Tertullian,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Arnobius, 
and  St.  Augustine,  from  bowing  their  reason 
before  the  authority  of  the  Gospel,  and  sub¬ 
mitting  their  understandings  to  the  Christian 
Paith.  Who,  in  these  days,  speaks  of  the 
criticisms  of  Celsus  or  Porphyry  ?  And  since 
a  new  paganism  has  sought  to  raise  its  head 
in  Europe,  the  same  phenomenon  is  reproduced 
before  our  eyes.  Whilst  a  certain  number  of 
men  denounce  the  Christian  Faith  as  the  anti¬ 
thesis  of  philosophy  and  science,  men  of  emi¬ 
nent  minds  are  Jo  be  met  with,  who,  after  hav¬ 
ing  passed  the  greater  part  of  their  lives  in 
infidelity,  returned  to  this  Faith,  and  proclaim 
that  all  the  objections  of  Rationalism,  which 
had  so  long  held  them  back,  have  no  pretensions 
to  science,  and  rest  upon  prejudices  unworthy 
of  an  earnest  mind.  This  is  a  fact  of  the  high¬ 
est  importance,  which  would  alone  suffice  to 
show  the  puerility  of  infidel  pretensions.  Since 
the  beginning  of  this  century,  how  many 


174  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

learned  men  have  been  seen  to  desert  the  stand¬ 
ard  of  Rationalism  and  range  themselves  under 
the  banner  of  the  Faith!  Nor  can  it  be  said  of 
these  learned  converts,  as  it  is  said  of  us,  that 
in  their  profession  of  the  Faith  they  do  but 
obey  the  prejudices  of  education;  for  on  enter¬ 
ing  the  Church  they  have  been  obliged  to  break 
with  their  past  life,  and  often  with  habits  of 
mind  contracted  since  the  first  real  dawn  of 
reason.  Who  will  dare  to  say  that  men  like 
Frederick  Schlegel,  Maine  de  Biran,  Lher- 
minier,  Augustin  Thierry,  with  many  more  as 
learned  as  they,  were  strangers  to  the  progress 
of  modern  criticism,  or  deficient  in  intellectual 
independence  % 

We  will  pause  only  at  two  names,  Augustin 
Thierry  and  Maine  de  Biran,  of  whom  one 
represents  historical,  and  the  other  philosoph¬ 
ical  criticism. 

Augustin  Thierry  claims  a  place  in  the  first 
ranks  of  the  restorers  of  historical  research  in 
France.  No  one,  in  the  annals  of  literature, 
presents  a  more  wonderful  example  of  perseve¬ 
rance  in  labor  and  devotion  to  science.  “For 
thirty  years/’  says  a  priest,  the  friend  and 
confidante  of  the  illustrious  historian,  “it  was 
the  will  of  God  to  shroud  this  luminous  under¬ 
standing  in  material  darkness,  and  imprison 
this  energetic  will  in  a  motionless  body.  But 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  175 

the  soul  confined  in  this  prison,  and  wearing 
ing  search  after  God  and  his  truth.  ...  Per¬ 
fectly  blind,  entirely  paralyzed,  instead  of 
giving  way  to  heaviness  and  dulness,  he 
watched,  meditated,  listened,  and  dictated;  and 
with  what  brilliancy,  what  enthusiasm !  His 
life  was  regulated  and  disciplined  by  the  in¬ 
flexible  exactness  of  an  almost  religious  rule.” 
This  energetic  and  unconquerable  mind  entered 
on  the  study  of  history  with  the  most  hostile 
prepossessions  against  the  Christian  Faith,  and 
he  often  evinced  great  injustice  toward  the 
Church.  But  what  was  the  result  of  his  re¬ 
searches  and  meditations  \  It  was  the  profound 
conviction  that  all  the  philosophical  and  his¬ 
torical  difficulties  of  which  unbelief  makes  so 
much  are  but  phantoms  which  fade  away  as 
soon  as  they  are  exposed  to  the  light  of  serious 
examination.  Let  us  hear  Father  Gratry: 

“Having  abandoned  infidelity,  as  he  himself 
has  often  told  me,  he  soon  learned  from  the 
sincere  study  of  men  and  of  history  that  in¬ 
fidelity  does  not  explain  the  mystery  of  the 
world,  and  that  the  living  power  which  leads 
mankind  is  religion.  History  further  showed 
him  that  this  religion  can  be  no  other  than 
Christianity.  But  as  his  mind  rose  by  degrees 
from  error  to  truth,  he  thought  at  first  to  have 
found  the  pure  doctrine  of  the  Gospel  in 


176  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 


this  chain,  continued  its  work  and  its  persever- 
Protestantism.  At  that  time,  he  sought  for 
light  at  Geneva. 

“Then  (these  are  his  own  words)  I  had  no 
notion  of  the  history  of  the  Church.  When  I 
had  cast  my  eyes  over  it,  I  saw  clearly  that 
Protestantism  could  not  be  the  religion  founded 
by  Jesus  Christ.  Protestantism  and  history  are 
wholly  incompatible.  The  Protestant  system 
has  been  forced  to  construct  a  fictitious  history 
for  its  own  use.  I  am  astonished  that  people 
can  still  maintain  themselves  on  such  ground. 
How  is  it  that  they  do  not  see  that  Catholicism 
is  found  entire  in  the  first  four  centuries  V9 
Another  day,  quite  recently,  he  said  to  one 
of  the  Fathers  of  the  Oratory,  M.  Pinaud: 
“People  sometimes  maintain — and  it  is  a  prej¬ 
udice  I  shared  for  a  long  time — that  the 
doctrine  of  the  Church  is  formed  of  pieces  and 
fragments.  How  false  this  is!  What  admir¬ 
able  unity  we  find  in  her  teaching!  The  ex¬ 
amination  of  the  text  soon  overthrows  this 
%  error.” 

In  the  rationalist  world,  in  the  midst  of 
which  Augustin  Thierry  had  passed  his  life, 
people  wondered  that  so  many  learned  men 
should  be  converted  to  Catholicism,  and  submit 
the  reason  they  had  so  long  held  in  indepen¬ 
dence  to  the  authority  of  the  Church.  A  week 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  ITT 

before  his  death  this  learned  and  conscientious 
man  spoke  of  this  fact  to  Father  Gratry: 
“Many  persons  cannot  understand  how  it  hap¬ 
pens,  or  whence  it  comes,  that  so  many  should 
return  to  the  Catholic  Church  in  spite  of  ob¬ 
jections  and  difficulties.  It  is  very  simple:  it 
is  because  Catholicism  is  the  Truth.  It  is  the 
true  religion  of  mankind.  Pretended  philoso¬ 
phical  objections  are  not  philosophical ;  on  the 
contrary,  all  the  philosophy  of  all  times  and  all 
places  is  found  in  the  Catholic  Doctrine.  All 
truth  centres  in  it,  and  men  plunge  into  false¬ 
hood  in  proportion  as  they  wander  from  it. 
This  is  why  Lutheranism  is  worth  less  than 
Anglicanism,  Calvinism  less  than  Lutheranism, 
Unitarianism  less  than  Calvinism,  and  so  of 
the  rest.  On  the  other  hand,  I  see  no  good 
reason  against  the  Catholic  Religion.  If  we 
consider  the  precepts  of  the  Church,  they  are 
good,  reasonable,  salutary,  even  to  the  smallest 
practice:  none  can  be  omitted  without  leaving 
cause  for  regret.  People  do  wrong  to  hesitate. 
They  must  come  thither  at  last.  True  phi¬ 
losophy,  true  practical  wisdom  will  be  sure  to 
lead  men  thither/’ 

Many  false  judgments,  many  religious  errors, 
are  to  be  found  in  the  works  of  Augustin 
Thierry.  lie  had  intended  to  correct  all  that 

he  had  written  against  the  Truth.  Death  sur- 
12 


178  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

prised  him  in  the  midst  of  these  generous  labors. 
He  said  to  Father  Gratry:  “I  wish  to  correct 
all  that  I  may  have  written,  although  in  good 
faith,  against  the  Truth,  any  wise.  Every  day 
and  every  night  I  implore  God  to  give  me  time 
to  finish  this  work,  for  it  seems  to  me  that  in 
this  I  am  working  for  God.  I  am  often  sus¬ 
tained  and  encouraged  in  my  weariness  and 
sleeplessness  by  this  thought :  I  am  God’s 
workman.  But  do  not  repeat  this,”  said  he, 
with  delicate  modesty,  “it  would  be  presump¬ 
tuous.  I  only  say  it  to  you.” 

“If  I  am  not  deceived,”  says  Father  Gratry  * 
in  conclusion,  “this  example  will  become  his¬ 
torical;  it  will  be  salutary  to  many;  it  will 
raise  many  from  despair ;  it  will  cure  the  blind¬ 
ness  of  many.”  Certainly  it  is  well  calculated 
to  dispel  prejudices,  and  to  raise  up  weak  and 
wavering  minds. 

The  conversion  of  Maine  de  Biran  is  not  less 
striking  than  that  of  Augustin  Thierry.  Cousin 
said  of  this  philosopher  that  he  was  “the  great¬ 
est  metaphysician  who  had  adorned  France 
since  Malebranche.”  We  must  not  exaggerate: 
Maine  de  Biran  is  not  a  great  metaphysician; 
he  does  not  come  near  Malebranche;  but  he  is 
an  eminent  psychologist,  and  undoubtedly  one 
of  the  most  sagacious  and  profound  observers 
known  to  the  philosophy  of  the  present  century. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  179 

How  could  a  man  become  a  metaphysician  who 
had  Condillac  for  his  master,  and  who  has  not 
studied  in  the  school  of  Plato  and  St.  Augus¬ 
tine  ?  Maine  de  Biran,  like  all  his  unbelieving 
contemporaries,  began  with  the  philosophy  of 
sensation  and  the  degradation  of  materialism. 
IIow  long  a  road  he  had  to  travel  before  he 
could  reach  the  heights  of  Christian  Faith! 
lie  did  travel  this  road  slowly,  painfully;  and 
by  force  of  perseverance  and  courage  he  tri¬ 
umphed  over  the  obstacles  of  every  kind  which 
he  met  with  on  this  long  journey. 

The  serious  observation  of  the  phenomena 
of  thought  and  the  activity  of  the  ego  soon 
showed  Biran  how  empty  was  the  philosophy 
of  sensation.  Materialism  was  vanquished,  but 
the  philosopher  did  not  dream  of  replacing  it 
by  Christianity.  lie  remained  an  infidel  for  a 
long  time.  The  morality  of  stoicism  pleased 
his  noble  and  generous  soul,  and  he  would  have 
declared  himself  the  disciple  of  Zeno  had  not 
the  feeling  of  reality,  always  so  vivid  in  him, 
shown  him  the  chimerical  side  of  this  proud 
philosophy.  His  ideas  with  regard  to  the  na¬ 
ture  of  religion  wrere  most  false.  lie  wrote  thus 
in  1815:  “Beligion  is  a  sentiment  of  the  soul, 
rather  than  a  belief  of  the  mind ;  belief  is 
subordinate  to  feeling/7  This  is  exactly  the 
inverse  of  the  truth.  At  the  same  period  he 


180  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

gave  an  account  of  the  state  of  his  soul  and  of 
the  intellectual  freedom  with  which  he  pursued 
the  search  after  truth.  “In  my  youth,  and 
when  I  was  prepossessed  in  favor  of  the  mate¬ 
rialistic  systems  which  had  seduced  my  imagin¬ 
ation,  I  put  aside  all  ideas  which  did  not  tend 
to  this  end.  I  was  frivolous  rather  than  in¬ 
sincere.  But  since  my  own  ideas  have  led  me 
far  from  these  systems,  I  have  had  no  pre¬ 
possession  in  favor  of  any  fixed  conclusion  at 
which  I  would  arrive,  no  prepossession  either 
in  favor  of  belief  or  of  unbelief.  If  I  find 
God  and  the  true  laws  of  the  moral  order,  it  . 
will  he  by  good  fortune,  and  I  shall  be  more 
worthy  of  credit  than  they  who,  with  so  many 
prejudices,  tend  only  to  establish  them  by  their 
theory.”  Alas !  this  mind,  which  believed 
itself  so  free,  obeyed  unwittingly  a  multitude  of 
prejudices  fostered  by  anti-Christian  ignorance. 

Three  years  later,  this  philosopher,  till  then 
so  proud  of  his  reason  and  moral  strength, 
experienced  an  invincible  need  of  leaning  on 
God.  “I  leant  on  myself,  I  reckoned  on  my 
faculties,  I  hoped  that  they  would  continually 
develop,  I  expected  great  progress  from  time 
and  labor ;  experience  teaches  me  that  I  leant 
upon  a  feeble  reed,  agitated  by  the  winds, 
broken  by  the  tempest.  Our  faculties  change 
and  deceive  our  expectations;  we  have  as  little 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  181 

ground  to  believe  in  their  power  and  duration 
as  in  their  authority.  ‘When  a  man  seeks  not 
God,  he  doth  himself  more  harm  than  the  whole 
world  and  all  his  enemies  can  do  him.’  ” 

This  last  sentence  is  taken  from  the  Follow¬ 
ing  of  Christ.  At  the  time  when  Biran  wrote 
these  lines,  he  was  continually  reading  that 
incomparable  book.  The  Pensees  de  Pascal 
and  Fenelon?s  CEuvres  Spirituelles  were  of  the 
number  of  his  favorite  works.  He  tells  us 
that  in  1815  he  was  in  the  habit  of  beginning 
each  day  by  reading  a  chapter  of  Holy  Scrip¬ 
ture.  This  acquaintance  with  the  doctrines 
revealed  by  God  completed  and  corrected  that 
work  in  his  soul  which  his  own  moral  and 
psychological  experience  had  begun.  As  it  hap¬ 
pens  almost  always  with  earnest  rationalists, 
this  man,  formerly  so  proud,  so  confident  in 
his  powers  of  reason  and  will,  came  scarcely 
to  believe  either 'in  one  or  the  other;  he  had 
fallen  into  a  kind  of  moral  and  intellectual  de¬ 
pression.  Men  begin  with  senseless  pride,  and 
end  with  despair,  because  they  obstinately  reject 
all  support  but  self,  that  poor,  feeble  reed  which 
bends  and  breaks  so  easilv.  But  in  this  sad 
state  of  weakness,  Biran  happily  turned  toward 
God,  and  asked  for  light  and  strength  from 
him  who  is  the  Truth  and  the  Life.  He  prayed. 
When  a  soul  prays,  it  is  saved.  We  cannot 


182  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

too  often  repeat  what  reason  and  history  agree 
in  attesting,  that  prayer  is  the  key  of  Faith. 
When  a  man  humbly  confesses  his  own  insuf¬ 
ficiency,  and  sincerely  asks  God  to  enlighten 
and  strengthen  him,  he  is  very  near  believing 
and  being  a  Christian. 

Listen  to  Maine  de  Biran,  to  whom,  a  little 
while  hack,  religion  was  but  a  matter  of  feel¬ 
ing,  and  Christian  mysteries  hut  dreams  and 
chimeras:  “Religious  and  moral  belief,  whicli 
reason  does  not  originate,  hut  which  forms  a 
basis  and  necessary  starting-point  of  departure 
for  reason,  is  now  my  sole  refuge ;  and  I  find  . 
true  science  precisely  there,  where  formerly, 
with  the  philosophers,  I  saw  only  dreams  and 
chimeras.”  “Religion  alone  solves  the  prob¬ 
lems  proposed  by  philosophy.” 

“The  help  of  God,”  adds  this  undeceived 
rationalist,  “is  necessarv  for  us  even  in  those 
things  which  are,  or  appear  to  be,  in  our  own 
power.  I  find  myself  stripped  of  all  my  facul¬ 
ties  precisely  because  I  relied  too  much  on  my¬ 
self,  and  had  not  acquired  the  habit  of  con¬ 
fiding  in  the  assistance  of  a  superior  power  and 
asking  for  it  by  prayer,  in  order  that  I  might 
be  strengthened.” 

“There  are  three  very  different  kinds  of  dis¬ 
position  of  the  mind  and  soul:  the  first,  which 
is  that  of  most  men,  consists  in  living  ex- 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  183 

clusively  in  the  world  of  phenomena,  (that 
is  to  say,  the  world  of  business,  pleasure,  glory), 
and  taking  them  for  realities.  Hence  arise  in¬ 
constancy,  disgust,  perpetual  change.  The 
second  is  that  of  reflective  minds  who  long  seek 
for  truth  in  themselves  and  in  nature  by  sep¬ 
arating  appearances  from  realities,  and  who, 
finding  no  fixed  basis  for  this  truth,  in  despair 
fall  into  scepticism.  Finally,  the  third  is  that 
of  souls  enlightened  by  the  light  of  Religion, 
which  alone  is  true  and  immutable.  They  alone 
have  found  a  sure  support;  they  are  strong  be¬ 
cause  they  believe.  .  .  .  The  greatest  benefit 
Religion  has  bestowed  upon  us  is  the  saving  us 
from  doubt  and  uncertainty,  which  are  the 
greatest  torment  of  the  human  mind,  the  true 
poison  of  life.  In  a  mind  destitute  of  religious 
belief  all  is  undetermined,  fugitive,  and  change¬ 
able.” 

The  human  mind  is  not  made  to  walk  alone; 
it  walks  securely  only  when  leaning  on  Divine 
authority.  It  hesitates  and  totters  even  in  the 
domain  where  it  is  naturally  intended  to  move, 
unless  sustained  by  the  hand  of  God.  This 
fact  of  daily  experience  Maine  de  Biran  had 
observed  in  himself,  and  in  the  society  in  which 
he  lived.  We  rarely  meet  with  infidels,  even 
among  the  best,  who  firmly  and  constantly  ad¬ 
here  to  the  truths  of  natural  religion. 


184  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

In  the  state  of  degradation  and  forfeiture  in 
which  man  is  born,  he  has  need  of  the  grace 
of  God  for  two  ends.  First,  he  has  need  of  a 
♦  medicinal  grace  to  cure  the  ‘wounds  of  his  na¬ 
ture  and  to  fortify  his  understanding  and  his  * 
will,  so  as  to  enable  them,  as  Fenelon  says,  to 
attain  the  end  of  themselves,  ( alter  au  bout 
d'elles-meines .)*  Maine  de  Biran  saw  per¬ 
fectly  the  necessity  of  this  grace;  perhaps,  as 
usually  happens  with  minds  that  have  relied 
too  much  on  themselves  and  have  been  cruelly 
deceived,  he  exaggerated  the  extent  of  this 
necessity.  Secondly,  man  has  need  of  grace  to 
raise  himself  to  the  supernatural  order,  which 
is,  properly,  the  order  of  Faith,  as  we  have 
already  explained.  Even  before  he  fully  em¬ 
braced  the  Faith,  our  philosopher  had  clearly 
perceived  the  reality  of  this  supernatural 
order,  and  the  necessity  of  grace  to  attain  it 
and  maintain  himself  in  it.  FT o  psychologist 
has  ever  more  clearly  seen,  what  nationalism 
obstinately  denies,  that  man  is  called  to  live  a 
life  superior  to  the  life  of  the  senses  and  of 
mere  reason ;  that  our  nature,  such  as  God  has 
made  it,  calls  for  this  life,  but  that  it  is  not 
possible  without  supernatural  help,  which  is 


*  This  expression,  rather  trivial  in  its  form,  may  be  ren¬ 
dered  :  “To  go  as  far  as  they  are  capable  of  going  them¬ 
selves.” 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  185 

grace.  Let  us  hear  this  scrupulous  and  pro¬ 
found  observer  of  the  human  soul: 

“There  are  not  only  two  opposing  principles 
in  man,  there  are  three;  for  there  are  three 
*  **  kinds  of  life  and  three  orders  of  faculties. 

If  there  were  perfect  accordance  and  harmony 
between  the  sensitive  and  active  faculties  which 
constitute  man,  there  would  still  be  a  superior 
nature — a  third  life — which  would  not  be  satis¬ 
fied,  and  which  would  make  us  feel  that  there  is 
another  happiness,  another  wisdom,  another 
perfection  beyond  the  greatest  human  hap¬ 
piness,  the  highest  wisdom  and  intellectual  and 
moral  perfection  of  which  a  human  being  is 
susceptible.’7*  In  the  last  pages  of  this  Journal 
Intime ,  Biran  returns  continually  to  these 
three  kinds  of  life:  the  life  of  the  senses,  the 
life  of  pure  reason,  the  super-rational  life  or 
the  life  of  faith;  he  has  made  the  distinction 
between  these  three  kinds  of  life  one  basis  of 
his  Nouveaux  Essais  d’ Anthropologic.  This 

superior  life  is  instilled  into  us  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  which  acts  in  us  and  communicates  with 
our  soul  without  being  confounded  with  it. 

“The  delusion  of  philosophy  is  to  consider 
the  principle  of  spiritual  life  as  exclusively 
belonging  to  the  ego,  and  because  our  ego  can 
to  a  certain  point  free  itself  from  dependence 


*  Journal  Intime,  p.  399. 


186  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

on  sensible  objects,  to  look  upon  it  as  indepen¬ 
dent  of  that  other  superior  influence  whence  it 
receives  all  that  light  which  it  does  not  origin¬ 
ate.  ...  I  was  formerly  puzzled  to  under¬ 
stand  how  the  Spirit  of  Truth  could  be  in  us 
without  being  ourselves,  without  identifying 
itself  with  our  own  spirit,  our  ego.  Now  I 
comprehend  the  interior  communication  of  a 
Spirit  superior  to  us,  which  speaks  to  us,  which 
we  hear  within  us,  which  vivifies  and  fertilizes 
our  spirit  without  being  confounded  with  it. 
.  .  .  This  communication  of  the  Spirit  with 
our  spirit — when  we  know  how  to  call  him  to 
us,  or  to  prepare  for  him  a  fit  dwelling  within 
us — is  not  only  of  faith,  it  is  a  veritable  psy¬ 
chological  fact. 

“The  whole  doctrine  of  Christianity  is  com¬ 
prised  in  love.  When  we  have  felt  within  our¬ 
selves  the  vivifying  influence  of  the  Divine 
Spirit,  it  is  natural  that  we  should  love  him, 
that  we  should  invoke  him  without  ceasing,  as 
the  food,  support,  principle  of  our  life ;  that  we 
should  love  him  more  than  ourselves,  for  from 
him  we  hold  an  existence  superior  to  that  of 
self,  and  it  is  by  love  alone  that  we  unite  our¬ 
selves  to  the  Spirit.”*  Rationalism  denies  this 
action  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  us,  and  the  life 
which  that  action  inspires  and  nourishes;  but 

*  Journal  Intime,  pp.  405,  410,  411. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  187 

this  denial,  contradicted  moreover  by  the  prin¬ 
ciples  of  true  philosophy,  cannot  prevail  against 
a  fact  which  all  Christians  experience,  any 
more  than  the  denial  of  a  blind  man  would  pre¬ 
vail  against  the  fact  that  there  is  light,  which 
all  see  whose  eyes  are  open.  “It  is  impossible,” 
again  says  Maine  de  Biran,  “to  deny  to  the  true 
believer  who  experiences  in  himself  what  he 
calls  the  effects  of  grace ;  who  finds  the  repose 
and  peace  of  his  soul  in  the  intervention  of 
certain  ideas  or  intellectual  acts  of  faith,  hope, 
and  love ;  and  who  is  thence  able  to  satisfy  his 
mind  with  regard  to  problems  which  no  other 
system  can  solve ;  it  is  impossible,  I  say,  to 
dispute  what  lie  experiences,  and  consequently 
not  to  recognize  the  true  foundation  there  is 
in  him,  or  in  his  religious  belief,  for  those  con¬ 
ditions  of  soul  which  constitute  his  consolation 
and  his  happiness.”* 

The  following  lines  are  the  last  which  occur 
in  the  J ournal  Intime  of  Maine  de  Biran,  and 
they  deserve  the  attention  of  all  men  who  think 
themselves  strong  enough  to  walk  alone,  and 
who  proudly  repulse  the  hand  which  God  offers 
them  by  his  Son  Jesus  Christ:  “There  should 
always  be  two,  and  we  may  say  of  man,  even 
the  individual  man,  vce  soli!  If  a  man  is 
carried  away  by  the  unruly  affections  which 


*  Journal  Intime,  p.  405. 


188  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

absorb  him,  he  can  form  no  just  judgment 
either  of  outward  objects  or  of  himself;  if  he 
abandon  himself  to  them,  he  is  unhappy  and 
degraded,  voe  soli!  A  man  may  be  ever  so 
strong  in  reasoning  powers  and  in  human  wis¬ 
dom,  but  unless  he  feel  himself  sustained  by  a 
power  and  reason  higher  than  himself,  he  will 
be  unhappy;  he  may  impose  on  others,  he  can¬ 
not  impose  on  himself.  True  strength,  true 
wisdom  consists  in  walking  in  the  presence  of 
God,  and  in  feeling  his  supporting  hand,  other¬ 
wise  vce  soli!  The  stoic  is  either  alone,  or  with 
the  belief  in  his  own  strength,  which  deceives 
him;  the  Christian  walks  in  the  presence  of 
God  and  with  God,  by  the  Mediator  whom  he 
has  taken  for  the  guide  and  companion  of  his 
present  and  future  life.” 

These  lines,  the  truth  of  which  every  sincere 
and  upright  mind  will  attest,  were  penned  by 
Maine  de  Biran  on  the  17th  May,  1824.  Two 
months  later  he  died,  with  sentiments  of  lively 
faith,  consoled  and  fortified  by  the  presence  of 
our  Divine  Mediator,  who  came  to  visit  him  in 
the  Sacrament  of  his  love. 

Let  superficial  and  vain  minds,  who  so  pre¬ 
sumptuously  take  their  stand  on  the  progress  of 
reason,  then  see  whither  it  led  one  of  the  deep¬ 
est  thinkers  of  this  a^e. 

o 

In  the  face  of  such  examples,  how  can  the  ab- 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  189 

surd  prejudice  be  explained  which  maintains 
that  Christian  Faith  is  incompatible  with  the 
progress  of  reason  and  science  ?  We  have  seen, 
and  still  see  at  this  moment,  learned  men,  men 
of  the  highest  intellect,  the  most  illustrious 
savants  of  France,  Germany,  England  and 
America,  return  to  the  Faith  which  never  grows 
old,  and,  after  having  scrutinized  all,  tried  all, 
proclaim  that  this  Faith  is  the  torch  of  science, 
the  infallible  guide  of  true  progress;  and  are 
not  those  who  have  always  kept  the  faith  of 
their  baptism  as  strong  in  reasoning,  as  well 
informed  in  the  progress  of  science,  as  the  un¬ 
believers  amongst  whom  they  live  ?  Let  men 
cease  to  justify  their  infidelity  by  seeking 
refuge  in  a  pretended  incompatibility  between 
Catholic  Faith  and-  modern  science.  Such  an 
excuse  is  unworthy  of  a  sincere  mind.  The  real 
causes  of  infidelity  are  not  to  be  found  in  the 
progress  of  information.  We  will  now  en¬ 
deavor  to  show  what  they  are. 


190  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Real  Causes  of  Unbelief — First  Cause,  Ig¬ 
norance  of  Religion. 

j^^AITH,  as  we  have  seen,  is  an  act  of  the 
understanding,  but  an  act  prescribed 
py  the  will — a  free  act.  The  cause  of 
unbelief  may  be  in  the  understanding  or  in 
the  will,  or  in  both  these  faculties  combined; 
that  is  to  say,  in  the  whole  sonl.  We  will  be¬ 
gin,  then,  with  the  understanding:  we  will  seek 
to  discover  how  and  in  what  degree  the  under¬ 
standing  acts  upon  the  influence  of  the  will ; 
this  will  lead  us  to  study  the  state  of  the  will, 
and  with  that  the  state  of  the  whole  soul  in 
infidels. 

The  first  and  most  common  cause  of  in¬ 
fidelity  is  ignorance  of  those  truths  which  are 
the  objects  of  faith.  People  know  nothing  of 
religion;  they  do  not  know  what  the  Catholic 
Church — which  keeps  the  Faith  and  prolongs 
the  presence  of  Jesus  Christ  upon  this  earth — 
believes  and  teaches.  In  most  cases,  such  ig- 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  191 

norance  is  not  wholly  unprecedented.  In  the 
early  ages  of  Christianity,  many  pagans,  and 
among  them  many  of  the  intellectual  men  of 
the  time,  reproached  the  disciples  of  the  In¬ 
carnate  Word  with  adoring  the  head  of  an  ass ! 
Is  it  possible  that,  after  eighteen  hundred  years 
of  Christian  civilization,  in  a  society  born  and 
nourished  in  the  lap  of  the  Church,  men  are 
still  to  be  met  with  who  heap  upon  us  reproaches 
equally  senseless  ?  We  see  beside  us  learned 
men ;  men  who  have  conscientiously  studied  the 
religions  of  Greece,  of  ancient  Rome,  of  Persia, 
India,  Egypt,  and  who  yet  speak  of  the  religion 
of  Jesus  Christ,  of  the  religion  which  has 
civilized  Europe  and  is  the  light  of  the  world, 
as  a  man  born  blind  might  speak  of  colors. 
Surely  this  phenomenon,  which  we  daily  wit¬ 
ness,  is  one  of  the  most  alarming  mysteries  of 
the  moral  world. 

Religious  ignorance,  as  a  cause  of  infidelity, 
shows  itself  in  various  degrees.  There  is  total 
ignorance,  and  there  is  partial  ignorance.  But 
the  greater  number  of  unbelievers  are  totallv 
ignorant  of  the  Christian  Religion,  and  have 
scarcely  a  vague  notion  of  religion  in  general. 
We  have  seen  that  at  the  time  when  the  soul  of 
Maine  de  Bi  ran  began  seriously  to  turn  toward 
God,  he  looked  upon  religion  as  a  matter  of 
feeling  in  which  reason  had  no  part.  Before 


192  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

that  time,  the  thoughts  of  the  philosopher  had 
never  even  glanced  at  the  religious  order;  to 
him  that  order  had  no  existence.  As  long  as 
Augustin  Thierry  was  an  infidel  he  studied 
history  without  any  regard  to  religion — the  only 
thing  which  can  explain  the  history  of  the 
world.  And  when  his  eyes  began  to  open — 
when  he  had  a  glimpse  of  the  part  assigned  to 
religion,  and  thought  he  saw  that  religion  could 
only  be  Christianity,  he  did  not  even  then  sus¬ 
pect  that  religious  truth  might  be  found  in  the 
Catholic  Church.  Tie  knew  nothing  of  the 
Church,  or  only  knew  her  through  the  carica¬ 
tures  of  her  enemies.  This  man,  who  was  so 
eager  for  knowledge,  so  curious  in  research, 
had  never  read  with  sincere  attention  a  history 
of  the  Church,  nor  a  complete  and  exact  ex¬ 
position  of  Catholic  Doctrine.  How  can  men 
believe,  when  they  know  nothing  of  what  they 
ought  to  believe  ? 

M.  Droz,  a  member  of  the  French  Academy, 
admits  that  he  became  an  infidel,  not  in  conse¬ 
quence  of  a  serious  examination  of  Christian 
Truth,  but  without  any  examination;  and  be¬ 
cause  he  was  ill-informed  with  regard  to  the 
principles  and  doctrines  of  the  Christian  Re¬ 
ligion,  ignorantly  and  unreservedly  accepting 
all  the  opinions  of  infidelity.  This  was  an  un¬ 
happy  jige,  in  which  many  marvellously  gifted 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  193 

youths  became,  in  some  sort,  the  necessary  prey 
of  irreligion  as  soon  as  they  entered  the  world: 
many,  alas !  receiving  their  first  lessons  of  in¬ 
fidelity  at  the  domestic  hearth.  Droz  had  re¬ 
ceived  a  Christian  education ;  he  had  gone 
through  his  Humanities  and  course  of  philos¬ 
ophy  in  a  college  where  the  doctrines  and  prac¬ 
tices  of  Christianity  were  held  in  honor.  Still 
he  was  almost  wholly  ignorant  of  religion,  and 
the  first  assaults  of  infidelity  destroyed  his 
belief.  lie  did  not,  however,  sink  to  the  depth 
of  moral  and  religious  degradation  as  so  many 
others  had  done;  his  noble  mind,  whilst  it  re¬ 
jected  Christian  Revelation,  preserved  its  be¬ 
lief  in  God,  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and 
in  the  moral  law;  he.  was  one  of  the  most  up¬ 
right  and  accomplished  types  of  spiritualistic 
Rationalism.  Let  us  listen  to  his  confession; 
it  will  teach  us  how  it  happened  that  so  many 
young  men,  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  cen¬ 
tury,  became  infidels,  and  how  it  happens, 
doubtless,  that  so  many  become  infidels  at  this 

day: 

“I  was  almost  always  inattentive  to  religious 
instruction,  and  was  far  from  having  given 
those  solid  foundations  to  my  belief  which  the 
times  in  which  we  were  living  required.  The 
philosophy  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  pre¬ 
dominant.  Deists,  in  order  to  exercise  influence, 
13 


194  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

had  no  need  either  of  profound  learning  or 
close  logic;  irreligion  was  the  fashion — infidel¬ 
ity  and  indifference  seemed  to  he  in  the  air  we 
breathed.  Whilst  I  was  occupying  myself  with 
literature,  and  prudently  descending  from 
poetry  to  prose,  I  constantly  heard  so  many 
voices  repeat  with  full  conviction,  ‘The  cause 
of  Christianity  has  been  judged  and  is  lost 
for  ever/  that  I  never  doubted  that  I  must  start 
from  this  opinion  as  from  a  certain  fact,  when 
I  would  treat  of  religion  with  the  enlightened 
men  of  the  time.  Thus  did  the  youth  of  that  ‘ 
time  decide.  God,”  adds  this  excellent  man, 
“might  have  punished  me  for  my  infidelity 
more  severely  than  he  has  done ;  he  might  have 
suffered  me  to  fall  into  the  degradation  of  the 
sophists,  who  seek  in  their  pitiful  pride  to 
maintain  that  God  does  not  exist,  that  man  acts 
under  the  dominion  of  fate,  and  that  morality 
is  hut  a  fable  invented  by  ingenious  men  to 
dupe  the  weak  and  foolish.  I  was  spared  this 
excess  of  degradation ;  God,  whose  goodness  sur¬ 
passes  our  sins;  God,  to  whom  I  owe  so  many 
acts  of  thanksgiving ;  God  has  never  wholly 
abandoned  me.” 

Is  it  credible  that  this  upright  rationalist  who 
was  absorbed  in  the  study  of  moral  philosophy, 
and  who  read  assiduously  the  essays  of  Mon¬ 
taigne,  the  Tusculan  Disputations  and  De 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  195 

Ofjiciis  of  Cicero,  the  Dream  of  Scipio ,  Plu¬ 
tarch ,  that  he  should  never  have  dreamt  of 
reading  the  Gospel,  nor  any  of  the  great  Chris¬ 
tian  moralists  who  have  drawn  freely  from  that 
incomparable  source  ?  In  his  eyes  Christianity 
was  irrevocably  condemned,  and  all  Christian 
literature  was  suppressed  by  the  same  blow.  In 
this  way  did  he  understand  and  apply  free  ex¬ 
amination. 

I  cannot  forbear  quoting  one  more  page  from 
the  instructive  Aveux  of  this  once  infidel  moral¬ 
ist  :  “I  did  not  lose  time  in  seeking  for  argu¬ 
ments  against  Christianity;  what  was  the  use 
of  doing  so  ?  Others  had  taken  this  trouble, 
and,  as  far  as  I  was  concerned,  the  question  was 
settled.  In  all  my  projects,  that  which  occupied 
me  most  was  the  desire  to  succeed  in  self-im¬ 
provement.  In  spite  of  my  love  of  literature 
and  philosophy — far  from  paying  a  fanatical 
homage  to  Voltaire,  the  patriarch  of  irreligion, 
I  was  disgusted  by  his  cynicism — I  was  grieved 
to  behold  an  illustrious  poet  disgrace  his  genius 
by  a  parody  of  the  history  of  the  angelic  heroine 
of  France.  .  .  .  The  so-called  Philosophy  of 
History  excited  still  more  painful  feelings.  In 
this  libel  against  humanity  man  is  represented 
as  a  mass  of  vice,  which  renders  him  at  once 
hateful  and  contemptible:  what  can  be  done 
with  such  a  being?  I  loved  liberty;  I  de- 


196  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

manded  it  for  all  nations  capable  of  under¬ 
standing  it;  and  when  I  saw  the  enthusiastic 
admirers  of  Voltaire  proclaim  themselves  the 
champions  of  public  liberty,  the  incoherency  of 
their  ideas  confounded  me.  If  man  is  made  up 
of  the  tiger  and  the  monkey,  why  should  we 
speak  of  giving  him  liberty  ?  On  the  contrary, 
bring  a  muzzle  and  chains ;  defend  the  world 
from  the  crimes  of  such  a  monster.”* 

We  perceive  that  Droz,  although  an  infidel, 
was  not  a  follower  of  Voltaire.  He  was  not  a 
fanatic  in  his  irreligion;  he  was  an  upright, 
moderate  rationalist,  striving  to  judge  of  men 
and  things  by  the  light  of  calm,  serene  reason. 
But  he  knew  very  little  of  the  Christian  Re¬ 
ligion,  and  unwittingly  condemned  it  on  the 
word  of  those  disciples  of  Voltaire  whom  he 
held  in  such  slight  estimation.  Question  those 
learned  and  distinguished  men  who  in  our  own 
days  have  passed  from  Rationalism  or  Protest¬ 
antism  to  the  Catholic  Paith,  ask  them  why 
they  rejected,  and  sometimes  with  supreme  con¬ 
tempt,  the  teaching  of  the  Church  ?  Most  of 
them  will  answer  that  they  were  ill-informed 
in  regard  to  that  teaching ;  many,  that  they  were 
wholly  ignorant  of  it. 

If  such  was  the  religious  ignorance  of  un¬ 
believers  as  earnest  as  Maine  de  Biran,  Augus- 


*  Aveux  d’un  Philosophe  Chretien,  pp.  17,  18. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  197 

tin  Thierry,  and  Droz,  what  must  we  think  of 
the  ordinary  run  of  infidels  ?  It  is  a  fact,  of 
which  the  infidel  press  alone  gives  mournful 
evidence,  that  the  generality  of  them  do  not 
even  suspect  what  the  Catholic  Religion  may 
be.  Ignorance  in  religious  matters  is  truly  a 
phenomenon. 

Still  a  certain  number  of  men  are  to  be  met 
with  among  infidels  who  are  not  ignorant  of 
Catholic  belief  so  far  as  this.  They  have  some 
notion  of  the  Christian  Revelation  and  of  the 
doctrines  which  it  contains ;  they  even  find 
things  in  the  life  and  teaching  of  the  Church 
which  command  their  admiration,  but,  seen 
under  a  false  light,  ope  point  or  other  of  the 
Catholic  Creed  or  Catholic  discipline  stops 
them,  and  they  remain  in  their  unbelief.  Some 
minds  reject  the  Christian  Faith  because  the 
mystery  of  the  Trinity  or  of  original  sin  shocks 
their  reason.  Ask  them  how  they  understand 
the  doctrine  of  the  Church  on  these  two  dogmas* 
which  in  our  own  opinion  shed  so  valuable  a. 
light  over  history  and  philosophy,  and  you  will 
at  once  perceive  that  they  attach  to  these  great 
mysteries  a  sense  really  repugnant  to  reason, 
and  which  has  nothing  in  common  with  the 
Catholic  sense;  men  create  phantoms  for  them¬ 
selves,  and  then  shrink  from  them  in  horror. 
How  many  infidels  impute  to  the  Church  on 


198  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

the  subject  of  original  sin  not  only  what  she 
does  not  teach,  but  what  she  has  formally  con¬ 
demned!  Then  they  draw  consequences  from 
this  travesty  of  the  Catholic  dogma  which  are 
really  monstrous,  and  which,  if  they  were  legiti¬ 
mately  deduced  from  it,  would,  I  admit,  suffice 
to  refute  it  in  the  eyes  of  all  reasonable  beings. 
What  just  and  generous  soul,  they  exclaim, 
would  not  shudder  at  that  necessary  conse¬ 
quence  of  the  dogma  of  original  sin — that  in¬ 
fants  who  die  unbaptized  are  punished  eternally 
in  hell  like  the  greatest  criminals  ?  Were  such 
a  consequence  well  founded,  I  confess  that  I 
should  be  deeply  disturbed  by  it.  But  in  what 
.General  Council,  in  what  Papal  Bull,  in  what 
Scriptural  or  traditional  source,  in  the  writings' 
-of  what  authorized  theologian,  have  they  seen 
that  such  is  the  bearing  of  the  Catholic  dogma  ? 
We  most  emphatically  deny  that  the  Church 
anywhere  teaches  that  children  who  die  with 
the  sole  taint  of  original  sin  are  punished  in 
the  same  way  as  men  who  have  been  guilty  of 
grave  personal  sin,  and  who  quit  this  life  in 
impenitence;  the  Church  does  not  even  teach 
that  such  children  are  positively  unhappy.* 
There  is  a  simple  and  supremely  reasonable 


*  See  Suarez,  ed.  vives,  vol.  xix.,  p.  235.  Many  consoling 
truths  on  this  and  kindred  subjects  are  contained  in  “Beyond 
the  Grave,”  by  Hamon. — B.  Herder,  St.  Louis. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  199 

Catholic  maxim,  which  is  a  kind  of  bngbear  to 
many  minds  which  in  other  respects  seem  to  be 
well  enough  disposed  toward  the  Church;  it  is 
the  maxim — No  salvation  out  of  the  Church. 
But  I  repeat  that  this  is  but  a  necessary  ap¬ 
plication  of  the  most  evident  principles  of  rea¬ 
son,  as  soon  as  men  admit  that  there  is  a  re¬ 
ligion  revealed  by  God;  nevertheless,  we  fre¬ 
quently  see  learned  men  who  reject  Catholi¬ 
cism,  alleging  this  maxim  as  their  excuse — they 
discover  in  it,  what  no  Catholic  theologian  has 
ever  seen,  the  wholesale  and  blind  condemna¬ 
tion  of  all  who  do  not  belong  to  the  external 
communion  of  the  Church.  Were  such  the 
meaning  of  this  dogma,  I  do  not  hesitate  to 
declare  that  it  would  be  as  absurd  as  it  is 
odious;  but,  thank  God,  it  bears  no  such  inter¬ 
pretation.  Sometimes  it  is  a  simple  point  of 
Catholic  discipline  which  disturbs  and  arrests 
certain  minds.  They  only  half  understand  it — 
they  only  know  it  according  to  the  estimation 
of  persons  who  are  hostile,  or  at  least  strangers, 
to  the  Church;  but  there  they  stop  and  gravely 
declare  that,  although  Catholicism  may  have 
good  points,  it  cannot  be  accepted  as  a  whole. 

ITow  terrible  a  thing  is  prejudice!  We 
Catholics  are  often  reproached  with  obeying 
prejudices.  I  admit  that  in  some  respects  we 
do  obey  prejudices,  but  as  a  celebrated  con- 


200  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

troversialist  of  the  seventeenth  century*  has  re¬ 
marked,  there  are  reasonable  prejudices  and 
prejudices  which  are  extremely  unreasonable. 
Ask  those  who  were  formerly  unbelievers — but 
whose  firm  and  generous  faith  now  rejoices  the 
Church  of  God — whether  they  were  not  slaves 
of  most  blind  prejudice,  when,  like  you,  they 
rejected  the  Catholic  Faith?  You  will  see 
what  their  answer  will  be.  Why,  then,  do  not 
you,  who  love  truth  and  admire  Christianity,  if 
certain  difficulties  present  themselves,  ask  an 
explanation  from  the  teachers  of  that  great  re¬ 
ligion  which,  for  eighteen  hundred  years,  has 
been  the  consolation  and  glory  of  the  greatest 
geniuses  of  whom  the  world  can  boast  ? 

Why  do  you  not  imitate  the  noble  and  gen¬ 
erous  mind  of  whom  I  spoke  just  now — why 
not  go  as  he  did  and  confide  your  doubts,  your 
hesitations,  your  difficulties,  to  one  of  your 
brethren  whose  charge  it  is  to  explain  the  teach¬ 
ing  of  this  religion  ?  What  is  there  opposed  to 
your  dignity  in  such  a  course?  Listen  to  the 
confessions  of  Droz,  deploring  the  fault  he  com¬ 
mitted  in  seeking  to  escape  from  his  ignorance 
and  his  doubts  without  having  consulted  any 
one:  “When  I  wished  to  begin  the  examina¬ 
tion  of  Christianity,  I  had  been  so  much  ac- 


*  Pellisson. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  201 

customed  to  rely  on  my  own  light  and  guidance, 
that  in  my  presumptuous  ignorance  I  sought 
counsel  of  none  to  direct  my  researches.  It  is 
easy  to  see  the  utility  of  religion — its  benefits 
are  before  our  eyes;  hut  instruction  is  neces¬ 
sary  for  the  consideration  of  religion  in  itself, 
and  to  bring  its  truths  home  to  ourselves.  It 
was  indispensable  that  a  man  who  had  been  en¬ 
lightened  by  its  study  should  supply  the  light 
of  which  I  was  devoid.  I  knew  a  priest  held 
in  universal  veneration ;  in  my  eagerness  to  es¬ 
cape  from  doubt  I  decided  that  I  would  see  him 
the  very  next  morning.  ...  I  opened  my  heart 
to  him;  I  revealed  to  him  my  thoughts,  my 
agitation,  my  desires,  in  all  sincerity.  I  finished 
by  saying  to  him :  ‘I  owe  to  the  proofs  afforded 
by  my  feelings  the  desire  that  religion  should 
be  true.  Finish  by  conveying  to  my  under¬ 
standing  the  entire  conviction  which  my  heart 
craves.  But  if,  instead  of  seeking  to  convince 
my  reason,  you  command  me  to  believe — if 
I  must  sacrifice  the  noblest  gift  I  have  received 
from  Heaven — I  have  nothing  more  to  ask  you, 
we  cannot  understand  one  another.*  ”*  Thanks 
to  the  instructions  of  the  priest,  this  suspicious 
rationalist  soon  learnt  that  the  Christian  Faith 
does  not  sacrifice  reason,  but  takes  it  for 


*  Aveux  d’un  Philosophe  Chretien,  pp.  65,  66. 


202  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 


granted,  purifies,  strengthens,  extends,  and  ele¬ 
vates  it;  he  understood  that  Faith  demands  hut 
one  sacrifice,  the  sacrifice  of  pride,  which  he 
confounded  with  reason. 


f 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  203 


CHAPTER  V. 


Causes  of  Religious  Ignorance — It  is  often 
Voluntary ,  Culpable  Ignorance — Levity  and 
Moral  Indifference  of  most  Infidels. 


*ffT  T  is  a  widespread  opinion  in  these  days 
H  that  error  is  not  culpable,  and  that  no 
one  is  responsible  for  the  religious  ig¬ 
norance  in  which  he  lives.  This  opinion  is 
supremely  absurd,  and  shows  too  plainly  the 
general  decline  of  reason.  Were  It  true,  we 
should  be  obliged  to  declare  that  m/m  is  not  a 
free  agent,  and  that  the  truth  has  no  claim  upon 
his  understanding.  Our  understanding,  con¬ 
sidered  in  itself,  and  apart  from  the  will,  is 
undoubtedly  not  free,  but  by  its  nature  it  is 
under  the  command  of  the  will;  it  is  placed 
under  the  direction  of  the  will  and  participates 
in  its  freedom.  Let  it  never  be  forgotten  that 
the  will  is  the  central  power  and  ruler  of  the 
soul,  that  from  the  will  the  whole  soul  must 
receive  its  impulse  and  direction,  that  it  is 
made  to  rule  and  direct  the  movements  of  the 
understanding  as  well  as  the  movements  of  the 


204  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 


feelings  and  affections — everything  must  de¬ 
pend  upon  the  will,  and  the  will  is  responsible 
for  everything.  Therefore,  it  cannot  be  too 
often  repeated,  it  is  the  will  that  really  makes 
the  man.  Let  no  one  say  that  all  conditions  of 
the  understanding,  all  ignorance  in  matters  of 
religion,  are  things  indifferent  in  themselves; 
our  intellectual  state  depends  in  a  very  great 
measure  upon  our  will,  and  the  ignorance  of 
which  we  are  speaking  may  be  voluntary,  and 
consequently  culpable.  Man  is  bound  to  know 
the  truth,  to  adhere  to  it,  to  submit  to  it;  who¬ 
ever  wills  not  seriously  and  sincerely  to  make 
use  of  the  means  at  his  disposal  to  arrive  at 
the  truth,  fails  in  his  duty,  and  deserves  punish¬ 
ment  for  his  ignorance  and  his  errors.  r 

All  ignorance  of  the  religion  revealed  by 
God  is  assuredly  not  culpable.  There  are  many 
souls  to  whom  it  is  morally  impossible  to  rec¬ 
ognize  the  truth  of  the  Church’s  teaching,  either 
by  reason  of  the  condition  in  which  they  are 
living,  or  the  atmosphere  of  prejudice  which  en¬ 
veloped  their  early  education,  or  of  other  cir¬ 
cumstances  absolutely  independent  of  their  will. 
God  will  not  condemn  these  souls  for  that  of 
which  they  are  ignorant.  Pius  IX.  wrote 
as  follows  to  the  Bishops  of  Italy:  “  We  know 
and  you  know  that  they  who  are  unavoid¬ 
ably  ignorant  of  our  most  Holy  Religion,  and 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  205 

who,  carefully  observing  the  natural  law  and 
the  precepts  engraved  by  God  in  the  hearts  of 
all  men,  and  willing  to  obey  God,  lead  an  honest, 
upright  life,  may,  with  the  help  of  Divine  light 
and  grace,  acquire  eternal  life;  for  God,  who 
perfectly  sees,  searches,  and  knows  the  minds, 
souls,  thoughts  and  actions  of  all  men,  in  his 
sovereign  goodness  and  clemency,  permits  not 
that  he  who  is  not  guilty  of  a  voluntary  fault 
should  suffer  eternal  punishment.”*  It  is  a 
question  of  sincerity  of  which  God  is  the 
judge. 

But  religious  ignorance  frequently  depends 
on  moral  causes  which  must  be  studied,  and 
this  study  will  afford  us  occasion  to  penetrate 
more  profoundly  into  the  mystery  of  unbelief. 
Infidelity  is  a  complex  fact  in  which  all  the 
powers  of  the  soul  have  a  share.  As  we  pro¬ 
ceed,  we  shall  be  more  and  more  convinced  of 
this  fundamental  truth.  We  will  begin  by 
pointing  out  a  general  condition  of  the  soul  very 
common  among  unbelievers ;  next,  we  will  show 
by  what  means  many  souls  descend  all  the  steps 
of  unbelief  till  they  lose  themselves  in  Material¬ 
ism,  or  perish  in  the  helplessness  of  scepticism, 
or  the  aberrations  of  Pantheism.  We  will  then 
return  to  the  consideration  of  the  moral  ob- 

*  Encyclical  Letter  to  the  Cardinals,  Archbishops  and 
Bishops  of  Italy,  August  10,  1863. 


206  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

staeles  which  the  Christian  Faith  meets  with 
in  the  souls  of  the  better  class  of  infidels — 
of  those  who  admit  the  fundamental  dogmas 
of  natural  religion. 

Levity  of  mind,  moral  dissipation,  a  cul¬ 
pable  indifference  to  religion,  is  the  ordinary 
source  of  religious  ignorance  and  one  of  the 
most  common  causes  of  infidelity.  What  are 
the  greater  number  of  men  who  do  not  be¬ 
lieve  doing?  What  is  the  usual  condition  of 
their  souls  ?  The  Apostle  St.  John  wrote  to 
the  first  disciples  of  the  Gospel:  “Love  not  the 
world,  nor  the  things  that  are  in  the  world. 
.  .  .  All  that  is  in  the  world  is  the  concupis¬ 
cence  of  the  flesh,  and  the  concupiscence  of  the 
eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life.”*  The  world,  in 
the  language  of  Scripture,  denotes  men  “who 
prefer  visible  and  transitory  things  to  those 
that  are  invisible  and  eternal.”!  This  world 
ever  exists,  and  although  the  triple  concupis¬ 
cence  which  the  Apostle  points  out  has  in  some 
respects  diminished  during  the  long  reign  of 
the  Christian  Faith,  it  still  displays  itself  in 
the  world,  and  still  brings  forth  therein  the 
fruit  of  death.  Are  not  the  pleasures  of  sense, 
riches,  honors,  the  sole  object  of  desire  and 
pursuit  to  the  ordinary  run  of  unbelievers  ? 

*  1  John  ii.  15,  16. 

t  Bossuet,  Traite  de  la  Concupiscence,  chap  i. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  207 

Material  interests,  considered  under  their  di¬ 
verse  forms,  absorb  them  wholly.  They  occupy 
themselves  only  with  perishable  goods ;  this 
present  life  is  everything  to  them.  Probably 
they  do  not  deny  that  there  is  a  future  life, 
but  they  think  nothing  about  it;  it  is  an  item 
which  does  not  enter  into  their  calculations. 
To  succeed  in  the  world,  to  satiate  themselves 
with  riches,  pleasure,  and,  if  possible,  with 
glory,  or  at  any  rate  with  honors,  is  their  sole 
care.  Some  give  themselves  up  with  a  kind 
of  frenzy  to  sensual  enjoyment,  a  great  num¬ 
ber  exercise  a  kind  of  half  restraint  upon  them¬ 
selves  and  at  least  respect  decency,  though  their 
view  extends  not  beyond  the  narrow  horizon  of 
this  earth.  With  such  dispositions,  men  are 
capable  of  sinking  to  the  lowest  depths  of  deg¬ 
radation,  but  they  will  not  raise  themselves  to 
the  heights  of  the  moral  order  to  seek  the  light 
of  truth.  Such  men  as  these  do  not  even  dream 
of  studying  religion. 

Pascal  said  of  the  few  infidels  of  his  time: 
“We  know  well  enough  how  men  of  this  kind 
act.  They  think  they  have  made  great  efforts 
at  self-instruction  if  they  have  spent  a  few 
hours  in  reading  the  Scriptures,  and  have  ques¬ 
tioned  some  ecclesiastic  on  the  truths  of  Faith. 
Afterward  they  boast  of  having  made  a  fruit¬ 
less  search  in  books  and  among  men.  But,  in 


208  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

truth,  I  cannot  refrain  from  telling  them,  as 
I  have  often  done,  that  such  negligence  is 
intolerable.  The  trifling  interests  of  some 
stranger  are  not  in  question  here;  the  stake 
is  ourselves  and  our  all.”*  “This  negligence  in 
a  manner  which  concerns  themselves,  their 
eternity,  their  all,  irritates  more  than  it  moves 
me;  it  astonishes  me,  it  alarms  me.  To  me  it 
is  monstrous.”!  What  would  the  religious  and 
austere  solitary  of  Port  Royal  say  if  he  lived 
in  our  days  ?  It  is  no  longer  a  question  with 
the  multitude  of  unbelievers  of  employing 
some  hours  in  reading  the  Scriptures  and  ques¬ 
tioning  some  ecclesiastic  on  the  truths  of  Faith; 
they  read  nothing,  they  question  no  one,  they 
take  no  thought  of  religion.  There  is  a  levity 
and  indifference  about  them  inexplicable  in 
reasonable  beings.  “There  must  be  strange  dis¬ 
order  in  a  man’s  nature  who  can  live  in  such 
a  state,  still  more  when  he  can  pride  himself 
on  it.”J  And  yet  the  greater  number  do  really 
pride  themselves  on  it.  They  despise  us  who 
believe;  they  denounce  us  as  the  enemies  of 
reason,  as  men  whose  understandings  are  en¬ 
slaved;  whilst  they  look  upon  themselves  as 
reason  personified,  claim  for  themselves  alone 
liberty  of  thought,  and  proudly  call  themselves 

*  Pensees,  part  ii.  art.  2 :  Necessit§  d’etudier  la  Religion, 
t  IWid.  t  Pascal. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  209 

free-thinkers.  From  the  time  of  La  Bruyere 
infidels  have  called  themselves  esprits  forts; 
this  title  called  forth  from  the  immortal  author 
of  Les  Caracteres  the  following  reflection :  “Do 
our  esprits  forts  know  that  they  are  called  thus 
in  irony?*  God  forbid  that  I  should  wish  to 
offend  any  one,  but  I  cannot  help  seeing  the 
most  bitter  irony  in  the  name  of  free-thinkers 
as  given  to  infidels.  It  is  a  fact  that  the  gen¬ 
erality  of  them  think  neither  freely  nor  ser¬ 
vilely;  they  do  not  think  at  all.  Permit  me 
to  say  frankly  that  there  are  infinitely  more 
free-livers  than  free-thinkers  among  the  enemies 
of  the  Christian  Faith.  If  some  few  (and 
they  are  the  exception)  really  think,  I  know  of 
nothing  less  free  than  their  thoughts;  they  are 
the  slaves  of  the  blindest  and  most  absurd 
prejudices;  they  accept,  with  a  truly  blind 
faith,  all  the  judgments  which  condemn  Chris¬ 
tianity.  An  infidel  examining  the  bases  of  the 
Christian  Religion,  sincerely,  without  prepos¬ 
session,  with  conscientious  freedom,  is  the 
rarest  thing  in  the  world;  when  a  man  has 
done  that,  he  is  very  near  renouncing  infidelity 
and  embracing  the  Faith.  But,  I  repeat,  this 
multitude  of  worshippers  of  free  examination, 
and  these  so-called  free-thinkers  examine  noth- 


14 


*  Les  Caracteres ,  chap.  xvi. 


210  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

ing  and  never  think  for  themselves.  They  re¬ 
peat  lofty  maxims,  write  pompous  formulae, 
for  the  most  part  like  parrots,  and  without 
attaching  any  meaning  to  them ;  this  is  the 
power  and  freedom  of  their  thought  in  the  do¬ 
main  of  morals  and  religion.  They  affirm  with 
imperturbable  assurance  that  they  are  for  the 
independence  of  reason,  for  the  emancipation 
of  the  human  mind,  for  progress,  for  the  liberty 
of  nations ;  according  to  them,  the  Catholic 
Faith  is  the  antithesis  of  these  beautiful  and 
noble  things.  But  do  not  ask  them  what  they 
mean  by  the  independence  of  reason,  the  eman¬ 
cipation  of  the  human  mind,  and  other  articles 
of  the  rationalist  programme;  they  are  words 
which  they  repeat  by  heart  and  without  having 
ever  examined  their  true  meaning.  Above  all, 
do  not  ask  them  in  what  the  Catholic  Faith, 
which  is  professed  by  the  most  independent, 
purest,  and  most  eminent  men  of  our  days,  as 
it  was  in  the  days  of  St.  Augustine — do  not  ask 
them  in  what  that  Faith  opposes  the  freedom 
of  reason  and  shackles  social  progress.  They 
have  never  thought  of  it ;  they  will  give  you  no 
other  answer  than  the  eternal  sing-song  of  ac¬ 
cusations  a  hundred  times  refuted,  and  formulae 
as  new  as  the  formula  which  comprises  all  the 
religious  science  of  the  disciples  of  Mohammed: 
‘God  is  God,  and  Mohammed  is  his  prophet.’  ” 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  211 

We  will  close  this  chapter  with  one  general 
observation.  The  meaning  of  words  must  be 
restored.  What  man  in  his  senses  would  say 
that  moral  freedom  consists  in  exemption  from 
the  rule  of  virtue  ?  How,  then,  can  men  place 
intellectual  liberty  in  exemption  from  the  rule 
of  truth?  Tor  pity’s  sake,  do  not  confound 
liberty  with  libertinism.  There  is  a  libertinism 
of  thought  as  well  as  a  libertinism  of  morals. 
To  live  regardless  of  the  law  of  virtue  is  moral 
libertinism;  to  think  and  speak  without  regard 
for  the  law  of  Truth  is  intellectual  libertinism. 

We  will  now  see  whither  either  one  or  the 
other  may  lead. 


212  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 


CHAPTER  VI. 


Materialism — On  what  it  Rests — The  Soul  Mar 
terialized — How  the  Soul  arrives  at  this 
State ,  and  what  Moral  Treatment  must  be 
Followed  to  Raise  it  from  this  Degradation. 


^pP^EE  ordinary  result  of  the  intellectual 
levity  and  moral  dissipation  which  we 
have  just  described  is  to  materialize 
the  soul  and  to  lead  it  to  believe  only  in  sen¬ 
sible  realities.  There  is  a  twofold  materialism 
— a  dogmatic  materialism  which  denies  pos¬ 
itively  the  existence  of  the  soul  and  of  God, 
and  a  practical  materialism  which  denies 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other  expressly,  but 
neglects  and  forgets  them  both.  The  moral 
condition,  of  which  we  have  just  spoken,  can¬ 
not  be  distinguished  from  this  practical  ma¬ 
terialism.  We  will  now  speak  of  dogmatic 
materialism,  properly  so  called. 

This  materialism,  which  for  a  short  time  was 
ignominiously  driven  from  the  schools  of  in¬ 
fidel  philosophy,  has  reappeared  in  the  last  few 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  213 

years,  and  has  again  acquired  considerable  in¬ 
fluence.  It  is  daily  gaining  ground  in  the  do¬ 
main  of  natural  science,  and  many  cultivated 
minds  are  ranging  themselves  under  its  banner. 
How  materialism  is  radical  infidelity — it  is  the 
denial  of  the  very  foundation  on  which  all  re¬ 
ligion  rests,  and  on  which  the  Christian  Faith 
in  particular  must  take  its  stand.  How  can  a 
soul  come  to  ignore  and  deny  its  own  existence  ? 
IIow  can  it  sink  to  this  intellectual  and  moral 
degradation  ?  The  key  to  this  mystery  must 
he  sought  for  in  human  liberty,  which  is  the 
principle  of  all  degradation  and  all  elevation. 
We  are  free  and  imperfect  beings ;  we  may 
refuse  our  adhesion  to  truths  of  the  moral 
order,  and  our  soul  may  so  far  blind  itself — 
not  nil  at  once,  but  by  dint  of  a  thousand  weak 
and  base  acts — that  at  length  it  will  come  to 
ignore  God,  and  no  longer  be  able  to  discern 
itself.  Men  reach  >  this  point  by  two  roads : 
by  libertinism  of  life,  and  also,  whilst  pre¬ 
serving  a  comparatively  virtuous  exterior,  by 
that  religious  indifference  which  enervates  the 
best  part  of  the  soul  and  ends  by  extinguish¬ 
ing  its  life. 

Our  soul  has  a  direct  and  immediate  view  of 
itself — it  has  a  perception  of  itself,  the  mani¬ 
festations  of  its  life,  its  understanding,  its  sen¬ 
sibility,  and  its  will ;  it  perceives  God  and  the 


214  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

moral  order  by  evidence  which  seems  irresist¬ 
ible.  How  then  is  materialism  possible?  It 
arises  from  the  moral  condition  of  the  soul,  it 
comes  from  this,  that  the  state  of  our  under¬ 
standing  depends  in  great  measure  on  the  state 
of  our  will  and  affections.  All  our  faculties  are 
mutually  affected,  and  exercise  an  incessant  ac¬ 
tion  upon  one  another.  Nothing  is  easier  than 
to  refute  a  materialist,  but  it  is  not  so  easy  to 
cure  him.  This  cure  is  only  possible  by  means 
of  a  moral  treatment  which  is  occasionally  very 
painful. 

There  are  souls  so  buried  in  matter,  so  ma¬ 
terialized,  that  the  realities  of  the  moral  world 
have  no  longer  any  meaning  to  them,  but  ap¬ 
pear  to  them  the  most  inexplicable  chimera. 
The  most  sublime  religious  symbols  reveal  ab¬ 
solutely  nothing  to  them :  in  the  most  touching 
ceremonies  of  religion  they  behold  merely  ex¬ 
ternal  things,  having  no  moral  significance.  A 
Russian  of  great  distinction,  who  was  converted 
a  few  years  ago  to  the  Catholic  Eaith,  attests 
this  of  himself:  M.  Schouvaloff  had  in  his 
youth  lost  all  religious  belief;  not  only  did 
he  no  longer  believe  the  Gospel,  but  he  no  longer 
recognized  the  existence  either  of  God  or  of  his 
own  soul.  Teachers  of  philosophy  had  con¬ 
firmed  him  in  his  denial  of  the  Truth.  lie 
passed  several  years  in  this  state.  In  the 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  215 

history  of  his  life  he  says:  “As  I  finish  the 
account  of  this  first  part  of  my  spiritual  exist¬ 
ence,  I  ask  myself  how  it  happened  that  neither 
my  heart  nor  my  mind  was  ever  touched,  when, 
during  my  sojourn  in  Italy,  and  particularly 
in  Rome,  I  happened  to  be  present  at  religious 
ceremonies.  I  cannot  comprehend  my  indif¬ 
ference  in  this  respect,  nor  how  it  happened 
that  no  serious  idea  ever  came  to  me — to  me 
who  believed  myself  to  be  a  thoughtful  man — 
at  the  sight  of  things  that  had  been  objects  of 
veneration  for  so  many  centuries,  and  that  to 
men  belonging  to  all  classes  of  society,  to  every 
degree  of  intelligence.  It  is  true  that  I  never 
entered  a  church  except  out  of  curiosity  or 
from  some  other  frivolous  motive,  but  still  I 
went  into  the  churches ;  I  was  present  at  glor¬ 
ious  and  beautiful  ceremonies — my  eyes  were 
sometimes  arrested  by  ancient  sculptures  or 
magnificent  pictures,  the  figures  of  which,  seen 
through  clouds  of  incense,  appeared  animated 
with  life;  everywhere  was  to  be  seen  the  image 
of  the  Holy  Mother,  surrounded  with  innum¬ 
erable  ex  voto,  tokens  of  hope,  of  sorrow,  of 
gratitude,  and  of  love ;  the  most  profound  feel¬ 
ings  of  the  heart  had  left  their  traces  on  her 
altars.  Moreover,  I  heard  words,  sublime  in 
their  simplicity,  mingling  with  the  music  of 
angels;  the  air  of  the  Basilicas  appeared  to 


216  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

me  to  be  impregnated  with  the  sentiment  of 
Faith;  here,  a  whole  people  listened  motionless 
to  the  voice  of  the  preacher ;  there,  the  faithful 
were  confessing  their  sins;  others,  with  silent 
devout  recollection,  were  receiving  the  Divine 
Body ;  prostrate  priests  adored  the  Sacred 
Host;  an  old  man,  the  Father  of  Christians, 
washed  the  feet  of  a  few  poor  men,  or  gave  his 
benediction  to  the  city  and  to  the  world.  .  .  . 
And  in  presence  of  these  grand  spectacles  not 
a  thought,  not  a  question !  I  beheld  them  with 
the  indifference  of  idiocy.  .  .  .  One  sense  was 
wanting — the  spiritual  sense,  the  divine  sense! 
My  body  was  present,  but  my  soul  was  else¬ 
where,  ...  it  slept.” 

This  is  truly  the  condition  of  a  materialized 
soul ;  in  it  the  moral  sense  is,  as  it  were,  extinct. 
Still,  the  root  of  this  sense  is  alive,  but  is  stifled 
by  foreign  elements.  To  restore  its  vigor,  these 
elements  must  be  removed,  and  the  soul  must 
be  replaced  in  its  true  position.  This  is  the 
object  of  the  moral  treatment  of  which  I  was 
speaking  just  now. 

Plato  was  perfectly  well  acquainted  with 
materialized  minds ;  they  abounded  in  pagan 
society.  He  has  depicted  them  in  several  pas¬ 
sages  of  his  Dialogues ,  but  particularly  in  the 
celebrated  allegory  of  the  cavern.  The  great 
moralist  compares  this  visible  world  to  a  sub- 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  217 

terranean  cave,  in  which  men  who  have  been  in 
chains  since  infancy  behold  the  shadows  of 
objects  through  an  opening  and  by  the  pale 
glimmer  of  a  fire;  the  captives  imagine  that 
these  shadows  are  the  only  realities.  “Now 
see/’  continues  Plato,  “what  must  naturally 
happen  if  they  be  delivered  from  their  chains 
and  cured  of  their  error.  Let  one  of  these 
captives  be  unbound:  let  him  be  compelled  to 
stand  up  at  once,  to  turn  his  head,  to  walk,  and 
to  turn  to  the  light,  lie  will  do  all  this  with 
infinite  trouble;  the  light  will  hurt  his  eyes, 
and  dazzle  him  so  as  to  prevent  his  discerning 
the  objects  whose  shadows  he  formerly  beheld. 
What  think  you  might  he  reply  to  him  who 
should  tell  him  that  up  to  this  time  he  had 
seen  only  phantoms,  but  that  now  he  has  more 
real  objects,  objects  more  approaching  to  the 
truth,  before  his  eyes  ?  Suppose  he  were  now 
pulled  out  of  the  cavern  and  dragged  by  a  rude, 
steep  path  to  the  light  of  the  sun,  what  a  pun¬ 
ishment  would  it  be  to  him !  how  great  would 

be  his  furv !  And  when  he  should  have  reached 
«/ 

the  light  of  day,  would  not  his  eyes  be  dazzled 
by  the  brightness?  Could  he  see  anything  of 
the  crowd  of  objects  which  we  call  real  beings  ? 
At  first  he  would  not  be  able  to  do  so.  Doubt¬ 
less  time  would  be  necessarv  to  accustom  him 

c/ 

to  it.”  Put  when  he  had  become  accustomed 


218  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

to  the  sight  of  objects,  and  to  the  contempla¬ 
tion  of  the  sun  which  gives  them  light,  “if  he 
happened  to  call  to  mind  his  first  dwelling,  the 
companions  of  his  slavery,  and  the  idea  which 
they  had  there  of  wisdom,  would  he  not  re¬ 
joice  in  his  own  change?  Would  he  not  com¬ 
passionate  their  misfortune  ?  Most  assuredly 
he  would.  Do  you  think  he  would  still  be 
jealous  of  the  honors,  praise  and  rewards  given 
to  him  who  was  most  prompt  in  seizing  the 
shadows  as  they  passed,  or  who  called  to  mind 
most  accurately  which  shadows  went  before, 
which  followed,  which  went  together,  and  thus 
was  the  most  skilful  in  guessing  the  time  of 
their  appearance;  or  that  he  envied  their  con¬ 
dition  who  were  most  powerful  and  most  hon¬ 
ored  in  that  prison?  Would  he  not  prefer 
passing  his  life,  as  is  related  of  Achilles  by 
Homer,  in  the  service  of  a  poor  laborer,  and 
suffer  everything  rather  than  resume  his  former 
condition,  with  its  illusions  ?  I  doubt  not  that 
he  would  be  ready  to  suffer  everything  rather 
than  again  live  in  that  manner.  .  .  .  Well,  my 
dear  Glaucus,  that  is  the  precise  image  of  our 
human  state.  The  subterraneous  cave  is  this 
visible  world;  the  fire  by  which  it  is  lighted 
is  the  light  of  the  sun ;  the  captive  who  soars 
to  a  higher  region  and  who  contemplates  it  is 


219 


(James  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

the  soul  raising  itself  to  the  sphere  of  intel¬ 
ligence/”* 

The  materialized  soul  delights  in  this  king¬ 
dom  of  shadows,  which  it  takes  for  the  only 
realities,  and  is  irritated  by  any  proposal  to 
quit  this  world  of  phantoms.  Only  at  the  price 
of  a  generous  effort  can  it  be  snatched  from 
them.  The  fulfilment  of  a  moral  condition 
must  be  the  first  step;  the  soul  must  purify 
itself  and  disengage  itself  as  much  as  possible 
from  the  mass  of  gross  images  which  defile  its 
sight  and  hinder  it  from  contemplating  the  true 
light.  In  the  Phcedo,  Socrates,  discoursing  on 
his  approaching  death,  and  seeking  to  console 
his  friends,  defines  the  purification  of  the  soul 
to  be  a  kind  of  anticipated  death.  “Does  not 
the  purification  of  the  soul/’  he  says,  “consist 
in  separating  it  as  much  as  possible  from  the 
body;  in  accustoming  it  to  be  shut  up  in  itself, 
to  be  recollected  in  itself,  and  to  live  as  much 
as  possible  .  .  .  alone  and  in  itself,  disengaged 
from  the  shackles  of  the  body?  .  .  .  Without 
the  least  doubt  this  is  so.”t  “Now  what  is 
death/7  adds  Socrates,  “if  not  the  complete 
separation  of  the  soul  and  body?  The  philoso¬ 
pher  who  seeks  to  purify  his  soul  exercises  him¬ 
self  in  dying,  and  philosophy  is  an  apprentice- 

*  Republ.  lib.  vii.  514-518. 

t  Phcedo,  67. 


220  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

ship  of  death/'1*  The  illustrious  sage  of  Athens 
had  but  a  glimpse  of  this  sublime  thought, 
which  was  to  be  fully  comprehended  and  real¬ 
ized — free  from  all  admixture  of  error — by 
Christianity  alone. 

Plato  recognizes  three  distinct  principles  in 
the  soul  of  man:  the  superior  or  rational  part 
of  the  soul  is  the  seat  of  the  understanding; 
the  inferior  part  is  the  seat  of  sensation  and 
material  pleasures;  the  middle  part  is  the  seat 
of  passions  somewhat  more  elevated,  such  as 
anger,  pride,  and  ambition. t  Por  the  man  who 
seeks  truth  he  teaches  the  necessity  of  subject¬ 
ing  the  lower  and  middle  parts  of  the  soul  to 
the  superior,  so  that,  free  from  all  shackles, 
it  may  more  easily  turn  to  the  contemplation 
of  that  which  is.  “Have  you  not  yet  re¬ 
marked,”  says  Socrates,  “how  far  the  sagacity 
of  those  men  reaches  to  whom  is  given  the  name 
of  clever  rogues  ?  With  what  penetration  does 
their  little  soul  seize  on  the  things  to  which 
it  is  turned.  Its  sight  is  by  no  means 
weak,  but  as  they  constrain  it  to  serve 
their  malice,  the  more  penetrating  it  is  the  more 
hurtful  it  is.  This  is  most  true.  But  take 
these  same  souls  from  childhood,  cut  and  pare 

*  Phcedo.  Cicero  and  the  Neoplatonicians  reproduced  this 

maxim. 

t  Republ.  lib.  ix.  580,  581. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  221 

away  all  that  the  passions  of  lust  have  deposited 
therein,  loosen  them  from  the  heavy  masses  at¬ 
tached  to  the  pleasures  of  the  table  and  similar 
luxuries,  take  away  the  weight  which  depresses 
the  glance  of  the  soul  to  inferior  things — then 
if  the  same  glance  in  the  same  souls,  freed  from 
these  obstacles,  is  turned  toward  the  things  that 
are  true,  it  will  behold  them  wTith  the  same 
penetration  with  which  it  now  beholds  these 
things  to  which  it  is  turned. ”* 

The  faculty  of  knowing  God  and  moral 
truths  is  implanted  in  man ;  but  it  is  weak¬ 
ened,  paralyzed  in  its  movements,  turned  away 
from  its  object,  by  the  weight  of  sensual  pas¬ 
sions  or  by  material  prepossessions.  To  restore 
to  this  noble  faculty  its  power  of  soaring  on 
high,  and  to  enable  it  to  turn  toward  its  true 
object,  it  is  necessary  to  combat  these  passions 
and  to  triumph  over  these  strange  preposses¬ 
sions.  Man  must  be  purified  by  mortification. 
Those  who  do  not  purify  themselves  spend  their 
lives  in  miserably  passing  from  the  lower  to 
the  middle  region  of  the  soul,  and  in  falling 
back  again  from  the  middle  to  the  lower  region, 
without  ever  raising  themselves  to  that  where 
God  manifests  himself.  “Men  who  know 
neither  wisdom  nor  virtue,  who  are  always 
taken  up  with  festivities  and  other  sensual 


*  Republ.  lib.  vii.  519. 


222  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

pleasures,  necessarily  sink  to  the  lowest  region; 
thence  they  raise  themselves  to  the  middle 
region,  and  pass  their  lives  in  wandering 
between  the  two.  But  to  traverse  these  two 
regions  in  order  to  look  upon  that  which 
is  really  on  high,  and  to  raise  themselves  to 
it,  this  is  what  they  never  do.  Therefore  they 
have  never  been  filled  with  the  possession  of  ► 
that  which  truly  is,  nor  have  they  ever 
tasted  a  pure  and  solid  joy.  Bent  down  toward 
the  earth,  like  animals  whose  eyes  are  ever 
fixed  upon  their  food,  they  give  themselves  up 
brutally  to  good  cheer  and  love;  they  dispute 
among  themselves  for  the  enjoyment  of  these 
pleasures,  turn  their  arms  against  one  another, 
and  end  in  mutual  slaughter.  .  .  .  You  have 
just  drawn  to  the  life  the  condition  of  the 
greater  number  of  men.  Does  not  the  same 
thing  necessarily  occur  with  regard  to  that  part 
of  the  soul  where  courage  resides — when  am¬ 
bition,  seconded  by  jealousy,  the  spirit  of  strife 
by  violence,  and  a  savage  disposition  by  anger, 
drive  man — without  reflection  or  discernment 
— to  pursue  a  false  plenitude  of  honor  and 
victory,  and  afterward  to  the  satisfying  of  his 
resentment  %  The  same  thing  must  necessarily 
happen.”*  How  many  men  run  after  this  false 
plenitude  of  honor  and  victory,  and,  willing 

*  Republ.  lib.  ix.  586. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  223 

captives,  know  not  liow  to  surmount  the  narrow 
frontiers  of  that  cavern  which  can  only  offer 
them  shadows ! 

It  is  assuredly  not  absolutely  necessary  that 
the  soul  should  be  freed  from  the  yoke  of  pas¬ 
sions  and  interests  before  it  can  recognize  God 
and  the  moral  order,  but  it  has  need  of  a  cer¬ 
tain  degree  of  purification  to  raise  itself  to 
that  superior  world  and  to  attach  itself  thereto 
by  a  firm  adhesion  of  the  understanding.  When 
a  soul  has  attained  this  moral  condition,  it 
must,  by  an  act  of  the  will,  unfold  its  divine 
faculty,  and  direct  it  on  the  object  for  which 
the  soul  is  made.  This  is  a  movement  which 
purification  renders  easy,  and  which  completes 
the  education  of  the  soul.  What  is  the  use 
of  the  organ  of  sight  if  men  do  not  make  use  of 
it,  or  if  it  is  ill-directed  ?  “In  the  evolution 
which  is  given  to  the  soul,”  says  Plato,  once 
more,  “the  whole  art  consists  in  turning  it  in 
the  easiest  and  most  beneficial  manner.  The 
question  is  not  to  bestow  on  it  the  faculty  of 
sight,  it  has  that  already;  but  its  organ  is  in 
a  bad  direction,  it  does  not  look  in  the  right 
direction.  .  .  .  The  faculty  of  knowledge  .  .  . 
never  loses  its  power,  only  it  becomes  useful 
and  advantageous,  or  useless  and  hurtful  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  direction  which  is  given  to  it.”* 

*  Republ.  lib.  vii.  518. 


224  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

This  is  the  real  supreme  importance  of  the 
part  which  the  will  hears  in  knowledge.  Would 
that  those  poor  souls  who  deny  God  and  ignore 
themselves  would  seriously  reflect  upon  it ! 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  225 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Scepticism — In  v:Jiat  it  consists — Different 
Causes  of  Scepticism. 


♦ITWOW  few  souls  are  there,  in  these  days, 
J  who  preserve  their  equilibrium  and 
their  uprightness,  affirming  what  ought 
to  be  affirmed,  denying  what  ought  to  be  denied, 
abstaining  from  judging  where  it  is  right  so  to 
abstain !  Aristotle  has  defined  virtue  to  be  the 
middle  between  two  vices,  the  too  much  and 
the  too  little.*  I  do  not  accept  this  definition 
in  its  full  extent,  but  it  is  frequently  no  less 
applicable  in  the  intellectual  than  in  the  moral 
life.  Sometimes  men  foolishly  seek  to  raise 
themselves,  alone  and  without  support,  above 
human  nature ;  sometimes  they  sink  below  that 
same  nature  by  falling  miserably  into  materi¬ 
alism  or  scepticism.  How  many  minds  are  in 
perpetual  oscillation  between  these  two  ex¬ 
tremes,  slipping  now  on  one  side,  now  on  the 
other,  without  power  to  fix  themselves  in  the 
just  medium  which  reason  prescribes ! 


15 


*  Ethic.  Nicom.  ii.  6. 


226  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

Scepticism  often  depends  on  a  moral  condi¬ 
tion  similar  to  that  which  engenders  and 
nourishes  materialism ;  occasionally,  however, 
it  arises  from  other  causes.  I  am  now  speak¬ 
ing  of  moral  universal  scepticism,  of  that  state 
of  mind  wliiciz  denies  nothing  positively,  hut 
at  the  same  time  does  not  affirm  any  truth  of 
the  moral  order,  whether  natural  or  super¬ 
natural;  in  which  a  man  doubts  the  existence 
of  God,  of  his  own  soul,  of  all  religious  prin¬ 
ciples.  With  some  men,  universal  doubt  is  the 
result  of  a  false  system  of  philosophy  carried 
out  to  its  extreme  point,  but  this  is  an  excep¬ 
tion  which  we  need  not  specially  notice.  Even 
in  minds  that  give  themselves  up  to  philoso¬ 
phical  studies  and  are  sincerely  prepossessed 
in  favor  of  the  truth,  scepticism  is  rarely  the 
logical  product  of  a  false  method;  it  almost 
always  depends  on  other  causes ;  it  springs  for 
the  most  part  from  a  monstrous  and  bitter  de¬ 
ception.  It  is  this  deception  which  directly 
engenders  intellectual  despair;  but  in  this  it  is 
assisted  by  moral  dispositions  which  indicate 
an  unhealthy  condition  of  the  soul.  Scepticism 
is  a  weakness  of  the  will  and  of  the  under¬ 
standing.  It  is  the  younger  son  of  pride,  if  I 
may  so  speak.  Pride  begins  with  a  ridiculous 
self-sufficiency  and  ends  in  despair.  This  is, 
in  one  word,  the  history  of  many  sceptics  of 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  227 

lofty  and  earnest  intelligence.  In  this  way, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  St.  Augustine  fell  into 
scepticism.  Disdaining  the  Christian  Faith, 
he  at  first  imagined  that  he  should  be  able  to 
discover  everything  by  reason  alone ;  when  de¬ 
ceived  in  this  presumptuous  confidence,  that 
noble  genius  recoiled  upon  itself,  and  took  up  J 
the  belief  that  the  human  understanding  is 
powerless  to  attain  a  certain  knowledge  of 
truth.  IIow  many  infidels,  in  our  own  days 
and  under  our  own  eyes,  have  gone  through 
this  same  experience !  Their  reason,  jealous 
of  a  false  independence,  sought  to  walk  alone 
to  the  conquest  of  all  truths,  and  rejected  with 
disdain  the  support  of  Divine  Authority.  And 
in  what  did  this  course  generally  end?  For 
the  most  part  in  miserable  discouragement  and 
bitter  despair.  I  will  content  myself  with 
recalling  the  example  of  Theodore  Jouffroy, 
one  of  the  most  eminent  philosophers  of  the 
school  of  French  rationalists.  Jouffroy  had 
received  a  Catholic  education,  but  his  belief 
was  weak  and  unenlightened,  and  vanished  at 
the  first  breath  of  rationalistic  teaching.  Ilis 
young  and  ardent  mind,  seduced  by  the  false 
promises  of  infidel  philosophy,  was  persuaded 
that  it  was  about  to  find,  in  that  philosophy, 
the  clear  and  definite  solution  of  all  prob¬ 
lems.  “My  mind,”  wrote  the  disappointed 


228  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

philosopher  at  a  later  period,  “was  persuaded 
that  on  entering  upon  the  study  of  philosophy 
it  was  about  to  encounter  a  regular  science, 
which,  after  having  pointed  out  its  end  and 
the  process  by  which  to  attain  it,  would  con¬ 
duct  me  by  a  sure  and  well-defined  road  to  the 
certain  knowledge  of  those  things  which  are 
of  surpassing  interest  to  man.  In  one  word, 
my  understanding,  excited  by  its  necessities 
and  enlarged  by  the  teaching  of  Christianity, 
had  ascribed  to  philosophy  the  grand  object, 
the  vast  frame-work,  the  sublime  bearing  of  a 
religion.  .  .  .  Such  had  been  my  hope;  and 
what  did  I  find  ?  The  struggle  which  had 
awakened  the  slumbering  echoes  of  the  faculty, 
and  which  had  turned  the  heads  of  all  my  fel¬ 
low-students,  had  for  its  object— its  sole  ob¬ 
ject — the  question  of  the  origin  of  ideas.  I 
could  not  recover  from  my  astonishment  that 
men  should  occupy  themselves  with  the  origin 
of  ideas  with  as  much  ardor  as  if  the  whole 
of  philosophy  was  contained  in  it,*  and  yet 
leave  on  one  side  man ,  God ,  the  world,  and 
the  relations  which  unite  them  to  the  enigma 
of  the  past  and  the  mysteries  of  the  future,  and 
to  many  other  gigantic  problems  on  which  they 
did  not  conceal  their  scepticism.  All  philoso- 

*  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  in  Rationalism,  philosophy 
takes  the  place  of  religion,  and  ought  consequently  to  fulfil 

the  task  of  religion.  i 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  229 

phy  seemed  to  be  buried  in  a  hole  where  there 
was  no  air,  and  in  which  iny  soul,  recently 
exiled  from  Christianity,  was  stifled,  yet  the 
authority  of  the  teachers  and  the  fervor  of  their 
disciples  impressed  me,  and  I  dared  not  show 
either  my  surprise  or  my  disappointment.7’* 
Jouffroy  soon  became  one  of  the  most  distin¬ 
guished  masters  of  that  philosophy  which  as¬ 
sumed  to  be  the  supreme  personification  of  rea¬ 
son.  Ilis  personal  researches  could  not  fill  up 
the  void  which  the  loss  of  faith  had  produced 
in  his  soul.  All  religious  certainty  had  dis¬ 
appeared  from  his  mind.  Tie  became  a  sceptic, 
God,  man,  the  world,  their  mutual  relations,  all 
those  grand  problems  which  every  intelligent 
soul  necessarily  proposes  to  itself,  remained 
obscure  enigmas  to  him.  Listen  to  the  phi¬ 
losopher  telling,  with  the  accent  of  despair,  the 
impression  which  the  sight  of  the  places  where 
he  had  once  had  the  happiness  to  live  as  a 
Christian  made  upon  his  afflicted  soul.  lie 
says:  “I  found  myself  once  more  under  the 
roof  where  I  had  passed  my  childhood,  in  the 
midst  of  those  who  had  brought  me  up  so  ten¬ 
derly,  in  the  presence  of  objects  which  had 
struck  my  eyes,  touched  my  heart,  affected  my 
understanding,  in  the  happy  days  of  my  early 
life.  .  .  .  All  was  unchanged  except  myself. 

*  Noveaux  Melanges  Philosophiques,  by  Theodore  Jouffroy. 


230  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

The  Church,  where  the  holy  mysteries  were 
celebrated  with  the  same  devotion;  the  fields, 
the  woods,  the  fountains  which  were  still  blessed 
in  the  springtime;  the  house  where,  on  the  ap¬ 
pointed  day,  an  altar  of  flowers  and  foliage 
was  still  erected;  the  Cure,  who  had  instructed 
me  in  the  Taith  and  who  had  grown  old,  was 
still  there — still  firm  in  his  belief ;  all  who 
surrounded  me  had  the  same  heart,  the  same 
soul,  the  same  hope  in  faith.  I  alone  had  lost 
it.  I  alone  lived  without  knowing  how  or  why . 
I  alone,  so  learned,  knew  nothing .  I  alone  was 
empty,  agitated,  deprived  of  light,  blind,  and 
restless This  is  what  Rationalism  had  af¬ 
fected  in  an  understanding  naturally  so  power¬ 
ful  and  enlightened. 

These  last  words  of  Jouffroy,  so  profoundly 
mournful,  remind  me  of  the  observation  of 
another  philosopher  who  was  also  for  some  time 
an  infidel,  but  who  returned  at  last  to  the  Taith 
of  his  childhood.  M.  Droz  says :  “I  was  often 
astonished  to  see  illustrious  philosophers  less 
enlightened  on  the  most  important  subjects 
than  humble  Christians.  Is  it  not  shameful 
that  sages  should  consume  long  watches  in 
seeking  what  has  been  long  ago  found  ?  Philos¬ 
ophers  discuss  the  question  as  to  what  is  man’s 
destination  upon  earth ;  they  plunge  into  sub* 

*  Work  quoted  by  M.  Guizot  in  his  Meditations  et  Etudes 
Morales,  Preface.  Paris,  1852. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  231 

tleties,  they  exhaust  themselves  in  declamations 
more  or  less  eloquent,  and  in  the  meanwhile 
a  good  Christian  woman  would  say  to  them: 
‘God  has  created  us  to  love  him  and  to  worship 
him,  and  to  make  us  one  day  participate  in  his 
felicity.  Here  we  are  in  a  place  of  probation 
where  duties  are  imposed  upon  us ;  we  may 
fulfil  them  or  we  may  transgress  them.  After 
this  short  life,  according  as  we  shall  have 
obeyed  or  resisted  the  will  of  our  Father,  he 
will  reward  us  because  he  is  good,  or  he  will 
punish  us  because  he  is  just.?  If  philosophers 
do  not  confine  themselves  to  the  development 
of  these  words  in  treating  the  same  subject, 
they  unteach  us  the  truth.”* 

JoufTroy  was  unable  to  recover  from  his  fall 
into  scepticism.  This  proud  philosopher  con¬ 
cludes  his  works  by  charging  philosophy  with 
absolute  impotence;  he  ends  by  declaring  with 
bitter  sadness  that  philosophy,  which  in  his 
idea  is  the  same  thing  as  nationalism,  raises 
and  brings  to  light  a  multitude  of  questions, 
none  of  which  it  is  able  to  resolve.  What  a  les¬ 
son  is  this !  Men  begin  by  proclaiming  the 
omnipotence  of  human  reason,  and  end  by  ac¬ 
cusing  it  of  utter  weakness.  This  is  surely  the 
well-deserved  chastisement  of  pride,  which  in  its 
delirium  refuses  to  accept  the  conditions  which 


*  Avcux  d’un  Philosophe  Chretien,  pp.  32,  33. 


232  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

God  has  imposed  upon  our  nature,  and  disdain¬ 
fully  rejects  the  hand  which  alone  can  save  us. 
Neither  so  high  nor  so  low  is  the  teaching  of 
good  sense  and  the  teaching  of  Catholic  philoso¬ 
phy.  Rationalism  is  neither  reason  nor 
philosophy;  it  is  the  moral  enemy  of  both;  it 
compromises  them  and  destroys  them  by  its  ex¬ 
aggeration  and  its  foibles. 

The  causes  of  scepticism  are  complex;  it  is 
not  produced  in  the  same  way  in  all  minds 
that  are  attacked  by  this  terrible  malady.  In 
the  case  of  most  infidels  it  is  not  the  result 
of  a  serious  search  after  truth,  but  of  an  ill- 
directed  search ;  it  is  the  fruit  of  levity,  of 
dissipation,  of  indolence  of  the  will,  or  of  ‘  a 
false  direction  of  the  understanding.  Many 
Christians  who  are  not  familiar  with  psycho¬ 
logical  studies  ask  themselves  if  scepticism  is 
really  possible,  and  are  astonished  that  earnest 
men  can  fall  into  such  error.  I  can  understand 
this  blessed  ignorance  of  evil.  The  faculties 
in  a  Christian  soul  are  in  equilibrium;  they 
are  maintained  in  their  vigor  and  in  their  nor¬ 
mal  state ;  scepticism,  which  is  the  overthrow 
and  ruin  of  our  moral  and  intellectual  nature, 
is  an  impossibility  in  such  a  condition.  But 
let  a  man  enter  into  himself  and  scrutinize  his 
own  thoughts,  let  him  study  attentively  the 
history  of  those  souls  who  are  not  settled  in 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  233 

the  truth  by  Faith,  and  he  will  soon  be  con¬ 
vinced  that  scepticism  is  unfortunately  but  too 
possible,  and  that  it  is  easier  to  become  the 
prey  of  this  monster  than  people  usually 
imagine.  Let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  man 
is  as  free  in  his  adhesion  to  truth  as  he  is  in 
his  adhesion  to  virtue;  in  both  orders  it  is 
possible  to  fall  away;  men  may  reject  what 
is  true  as  they  may  reject  what  is  good;  they 
may  hesitate  and  vacillate  in  affirming  what  is 
true,  as  well  as  in  practising  what  is  good. 

All  truths,  even  those  which  we  call  evident, 
and  which  in  reality  are  so,  present  a  dark  side 
to  human  reason ;  man,  according  to  the  saying 
of  Montaigne,  sees  the  whole  of  nothing.  Even 
in  the  purely  natural  order,  every  object  of 
human  thought  presents  two  faces — two  sides; 
one  clear,  luminous,  evident ;  the  other  dark 
and  cloudy.  I  see  a  man;  I  affirm  his  exist¬ 
ence;  I  affirm  that  he  is  a  being  composed  of 
two  distinct  substances,  body  and  soul.  This 
affirmation  rests  on  evidence.  But  when  I  af¬ 
firm  the  existence  of  the  bodv,  when  I  affirm 
the  existence  of  the  soul,  do  I  know  which  is 
the  precise  object  of  this  twofold  affirmation? 
I  know  it  in  a  certain  degree.  I  know  which 
are  the  proper  characteristics  of  the  body;  I 
know  which  are  the  essential  properties  of  the 
soul;  I  see  clearly  that  they  are  two  distinct 


234  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

substances.  But  if  I  am  asked  to  state  in  clear 
and  forcible  terms  in  what  the  essence  of  the 
human  body  consists,  what  constitutes  its  life, 
what  the  action  of  the  organs  of  the  body  is, 
and  how  it  is  produced;  if  I  am  asked  to  de¬ 
fine  with  the  utmost  precision  the  essence  of 
my  own  soul,  and  to  explain  the  play  of  all  its 
faculties,  I  confess  that  I  have  no  answer  to 
give.  I  could  certainly  give  a  few  explana¬ 
tions  and  elucidations,  but  I  should  soon  come 
to  a  point  before  which  I  should  be  obliged  to 
pause,  and  a  grain  of  sand  stops  me  as  much 
as  man.  What  philosopher  durst  flatter  himself 
that  he  knows  thoroughly,  and  in  all  their  parts, 
those  things  the  reality  of  which  he  affirms  ? 
A  mysterious  obscurity  hangs  over  all  our 
knowledge.  One  of  the  leaders  of  French  Ra¬ 
tionalism  has  said  with  great  truth,  “In  science, 
as  often  as  we  make  anv  advance,  we  find  an 
abyss;  only  weak  minds  believe  that  they  can 
explain  all  and  understand  all.”* 

If  nature  herself,  bounded,  limited,  finite  as 
she  is,  conceals  depths  which  our  minds  can¬ 
not  fathom,  must  not  God,  the  Infinite  Being, 
be  full  of  obscurity  to  us  ?  Ro  truth  can  be 
more  easily  demonstrated  than  the  existence  of 
God.  But  what  incomprehensible  things  are 
there  in  the  nature  of  that  God  whose  existence 

*  Jules  Simon,  La  Religion  Naturelle,  p.  45. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  235 

reason  demonstrates!  Jules  Simon,  judging  in 
this  respect  of  the  pretensions  to  omniscience 
which  many  of  his  companions  in  Rationalism 
set  up,  says :  “More  humiliated  by  what  is 
wanting  to  us  than  intoxicated  by  that  which 
we  are  permitted  to  discover,  the  first  word 
we  shall  pronounce  when  we  speak  of  God  is 
incomprehensibility.  Human  pride,  and  we 
must  also  say  philosophical  pride,  revolts  at 
this  word.  We  are  willing  enough  to  admit 
that  religion  speaks  of  the  incomprehensibility 
of  God,  and  every  one  knows  that  the  Catholic 
Religion  proclaims  a  hidden  God — an  incom¬ 
prehensible  God ;  but  it  would  seem  that  the 
very  end  of  philosophy  is  to  explain  all  mys¬ 
teries,  to  render  all  ideas  precise,  to  carry 
everywhere  the  light  of  reason,  and  to  accustom 
the  human  mind  to  believe  only  what  it  can 
prove  and  understand.  We  might  say  that 
Bayle’s  proverb,  ‘Understanding  is  the  measure 
of  belief/  is  the  very  motto  of  philosophy. 
To  believe  without  proof  or  to  believe  without 
understanding  appears  to  human  reason  to  be 
at  most  only  two  different  modes  of  abdicating 
its  claims.  .  .  .  These  commonplaces  cannot 
stand  examination.  In  science,  the  question  is 
not  to  attain  what  we  wish,  but  to  attain  what 
we  can.  Ho  doubt  the  essence  of  philosophy 
consists  in  believing  nothing  without  proof ;  but 


236  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

wlien  the  existence  of  a  being  is  once  proved, 
are  we  to  renounce  our  belief  in  that  existence 
on  the  pretext  that  the  nature  of  that  being  is 
incomprehensible  to  us  ?  .  .  .  These  data  are 
so  simple  and  natural,  that  when  we  reflect  on 
them  we  know  not  how  to  explain  the  preten¬ 
sions  to  omniscience  which  certain  schools  have 
set  up.”*  “If  in  nature  herself,”  adds  the 
philosopher,  “that  is  to  say,  in  what  is  neces¬ 
sarily  limited  and  imperfect,  we  admit  the 
existence  of  real  mysteries  unfathomable  to 
human  reason,  by  what  mental  aberration  would 
we  have  the  only  perfect  Being  to  he  without 
abysses  which  our  thoughts  cannot  penetrate  ?” 
“My  life  is  passed  at  the  bottom  of  an  abyss, 
in  the  midst  of  mysteries.  I  am  surrounded 
by  the  unknown ;  I  am  myself  ever  unknown  to 
my  own  mind  (in  the  sense  in  which  we  spoke 
just  now).  In  spite  of  all  this  I  live  in  peace. 

I  speak  of  science  in  pompous  terms,  and  when 
I  come  to  demonstrate  the  existence  of  God 
and  am  told  that  he  is  incomprehensible,  I  cry  ^ 
out  and  declare  myself  offended  in  my  dignity 
as  a  human  being  and  as  a  philosopher.” 

ISTo  one  could  express  this  better.  In  these 
passages  the  author  of  La  Religion  Naturelle 
does  but  declare  a  well-known  truth — one  which 
has  been  recalled  and  explained  a  hundred 

*  Jules  Simon,  La  Religion  Naturelle,  pp.  35-40. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  237 

times  by  Christian  philosophers,  but  it  is  a 
truth  big  with  consequences  and  which  has  al¬ 
ways  more  or  less  affrighted  Rationalism. 

This,  then,  is  the  condition  of  human  reason. 
We  meet  with  mystery  even  in  the  dogmas  of 
natural  religion — in  things  which  seem  the 
most  familiar  to  us.  What  must  we  do  in 
presence  of  that  obscurity  which  in  all  our 
knowledge  mingles  constantly  with  the  light  ? 
Must  I  deny  or  abstain  from  affirming  the 
existence  of  God  because  I  can  only  compre¬ 
hend  his  nature  in  part  ?  It  is  undeniable  that 
I  can  do  so.  The  obscurity  which  accompanies 
light,  and  to  which  our  intelligence  is  averse, 
makes  this  denial  possible,  and  leaves  me  at 
liberty  to  give  or  refuse  my  consent  to  the 
known  truth.  All  depends  on  the  disposition 
of  my  will.  We  know  what  scepticism  is.  It 
will  not  accept  a  light  mingled  with  shadows — 
it  rejects  the  light,  out  of  fear  and  hatred  of 
darkness.  A  reasonable  man  will  not  act  thus. 
He  admits  the  obscurity,  which  is  inseparable 
from  all  knowledge ;  he  admits  it,  not  for  itself, 
but  on  the  authority  of  the  light.  He  knows 
that  he  is  not  intended  to  understand  every¬ 
thing.  We  are  intelligent  beings,  no  doubt,  but 
we  are  also  finite  beings,  and  consequently  the 
comprehension  with  which  we  are  endowed  is 
finite.  Also,  further,  we  are  beings  subject  to 


238  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

trial;  and  this  state  of  probation  excludes  the 
full  light  of  day.  We  mistake  the  laws  of  our 
nature  and  of  our  actual  condition  if  we  deny 
the  existence  of  God  because  his  nature  is  in¬ 
comprehensible  to  us.  Such  pride  would  he 
ridiculous  were  it  not  profoundly  criminal. 

Occasionally  scepticism  springs  less  from 
pride  than  from  a  false  direction  of  the  under¬ 
standing.  Some  minds  prefer  to  direct  and 
arrest  their  attention  to  what  is  obscure,  not 
only  with  regard  to  moral  and  religious  truths, 
hut  to  historical  facts  and  questions  of  natural 
science;  they  will  not  look  at  the  light,  or 
scarcely  glance  at  it,  they  fix  their  eyes  only 
on  the  shadows.  Is  it  astonishing  if  they  do 
not  see,  or  if  they  hesitate  and  grope  their  way 
along  like  the  blind  ?  We  know  many  such 
minds.  Things  which  are  the  most  evident, 
the  most  solidly  demonstrated,  appear  doubt¬ 
ful  to  them,  because  they  do  not  see  arguments, 
but  pay  attention  to  a  thousand  little  difficulties 
in  which  their  darkened  reason  perplexes  itself, 
and  ends  by  losing  its  way  completely.  Why 
not  look  on  the  side  where  light  is  ? 

We  have  said  already  that  levity,  indiffer¬ 
ence,  apathy,  generally  helped  and  fed  by  the 
passions,  is  the  most  frequent  cause  of  religious 
scepticism.  Men  do  not  love  the  truth;  they 
do  not  desire  it — they  fear  it  and  turn  away 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  239 

from  it  as  from  an  enemy.  With  such  dis¬ 
positions,  without  the  special  aid  of  God,  how 
can  they  avoid  becoming  sceptics?  But  let 
them  not  deceive  themselves ;  such  a  scepti¬ 
cism  is  highly  criminal,  and  the  truth,  from 
which  they  now  fly,  will  one  day  find  them 
out  to  their  cost. 

One,  who  had  traversed  all  the  phases  of  in¬ 
fidelity,  has  said:  “The  greatest  benefit  of  re¬ 
ligion  is  to  save  us  from  doubt  and  uncertainty. 
.  .  .  All  is  uncertain,  fugitive  and  change¬ 
able  in  a  mind  destitute  of  religious  belief.”* 
Change,  instability,  fluctuation,  is  a  malady  of 
the  understanding  as  well  as  of  the  heart  of 
man;  faith  cures  us  of  this  malady  by  fixing 
our  mind  upon  truth  and  prohibiting  doubt: 
those  who  do  not  believe  are  hut  too  frequently 
its  victims.  “Therefore,”  says  an  Italian  phil¬ 
osopher,  “the  Catholic  precept  is  most  wise 
which  forbids  us  to  admit  a  doubt  of  the  known 
truth  even  for  a  single  instant.  The  weakness 
and  instability  of  the  human  mind  are  such, 
and  so  great,  that,  however  strong  and  solid 
our  persuasion  of  the  truth  of  any  article  of 
faith  may  he,  there  is  not  one  with  regard  to 
which  difficulties  may  not  sometimes  arise  cap¬ 
able  of  making  a  momentary  impression  on  the 
mind ;  if  men  entertain  this  impression,  doubt- 


*  Maine  de  Biran,  Journal  Intime,  p.  333. 


240  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

ing  of  the  truth  which  they  possess,  they  will 
by  degrees  acquire  a  habit  of  scepticism  which 
will  soon  leave  no  belief  intact.  But  if,  on  the 
contrary,  they  courageously  resist  these  assaults 
— if  they  despise  these  involuntary  clouds  of 
the  mind — by  degrees  the  darkness  will  dis¬ 
perse,  calm  will  return,  they  will  he  able  to 
smile  at  their  doubts  instead  of  thinking  them 
formidable,  and  will  wonder  that  they  ever 
looked  on  them  in  a  serious  light.  Sophistry 
sometimes  assumes  a  specious  and  seductive  as¬ 
pect  in  the  eyes  of  the  understanding,  as  the 
passions  do  in  the  eyes  of  the  heart ;  hut  if  men 
are  strong  and  do  not  yield  to  appearances,  it 
will  soon  vanish  away.”* 


*  Gioberti,  from  the  French  translation,  t.  iii.  p.  182. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  241 


CIIAPTEK  VIII. 

Corruption  of  the  Understanding — Sophistry 

and  its  Victims. 


IIE  understanding  may  become  corrupt- 
ed  as  well  as  the  heart,  but  this  is  a 
case  of  less  frequent  occurrence ;  we 
have,  however,  signal  examples  of  this  corrup¬ 
tion  of  the  understanding  in  our  day.  This 
corruption  is  at  once  the  root  and  the  fruit  of 
sophistry.  I  have  no  desire  to  go  over  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  modern  sophistry,  which  my  friend. 
Father  Gratry,  has  treated  in  so  masterly  a 
manner;  but  after  having,  in  the  words  of  this 
uncompromising  religious  writer,  pointed  out 
the  evil,  I  will  seek  to  indicate  the  remedy. 

“The  sophists  of  the  eighteenth  century  at¬ 
tacked  the  Faith  in  the  name  of  reason;  those 
of  the  nineteenth  now  attack  reason  itself.  The 
sophists  follow  in  the  intellectual  order  the 
course  which,  according  to  Tacitus,  they  follow 
in  the  political  order — they  attack  reasonable 
life  in  the  same  manner  as  they  attack  social 
life.  ‘They  first  attack  power/  says  Tacitus, 
1G 


242  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief, 

‘in  the  name  of  liberty,  and  when  power  has 
been  overcome  they  attack  liberty  itself.’*  We 
see  the  same  thing  before  our  eyes  in  the  in¬ 
tellectual  order.  At  first  they  attacked  the 
power  and  authority  of  Faith  in  the  name  of 
reason ;  now  they  attack  the  free  and  manifest 
light  of  reason.  At  first  they  rejected  the 
Eternal  Word  illuminating  the  assembly  of 
Christians  with  his  revelations;  now  they  at¬ 
tack  the  Word,  who,  as  the  eternal  light  of 
reason,  enlightens  every  man  coming  into  this 
world.  .  .  .  Such  is  the  progress  of  intellectual 
decay. 

“It  is  certain  that  the  absurd ,  set  forth  dar¬ 
ingly,  openly,  and  without  evasion,  has  some^ 
times  a  strange  power.  It  has  the  fascination 
of  a  precipice.  I  know  many  instances  of  it. 
When  a  mind  has  once  had  the  weakness  to 
hesitate  for  an  instant  in  presence  of  the  visibly 
absurd,  that  mind  is  lost.  As  there  is  nothing 
more  to  expect,  in  the  order  of  thought,  from 
a  mind  which  demands  the  demonstration  of 
evidence,  so  there  is  nothing  more  to  hope  for 
from  a  mind  which  demands  the  refutation  of 
the  absurd,  which  is  itself  the  evidence  of  error. 
Beyond  evidence  there  is  nothing  to  demon¬ 
strate;  beyond  the  absurd  there  is  nothing  to 
refute. 


*  Annal  xvi.  22. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  243 

“There  philosophy  stops.  Then  the  mind, 
deprived  of  the  support  of  evidence,  and  of  the 
beacon-light  of  the  absurd,  quits  the  limits  of 
reason,  and  abandons  philosophy  for  sophistry. 
.  .  .  And  what  is  sophistry?  It  is  the  process 
of  a  reason  overthrown,  which  asks  the  demon¬ 
stration  of  evidence,  and  which  in  the  mean¬ 
while  denies  evidence ;  which  demands  the 
refutation  of  the  absurd,  and  which  in  the 
meanwhile  affirms  the  absurd.”* 

It  is  not  that,  as  in  materialism  and  scep¬ 
ticism,  the  soul  is  simply  hebetated  or  en¬ 
feebled  ;  sophistry  is  the  perversion  and  utter 
overthrow  of  the  mind.  All  is  reversed ;  the 
fundamental  principles  of  reason  are  over¬ 
thrown,  and  the  understanding,  as  it  were,  up¬ 
rooted,  floats  in  darkness  and  feeds  upon  con¬ 
tradictions.  Ilegel  is  the  great  master  of 
sophistry,  as  we  stated  before,  on  the  subject 
of  Pantheism.  Ilegel  has  founded  in  the  midst 
of  our  Christian  Europe  a  sophistry  infinitely 
more  dangerous  than  that  of  Gorgias  and  the 
other  Greek  sophists  whom  Socrates  and  Plato 
opposed.  He  has  ruined  innumerable  minds. 
Father  Gratrv  says  once  more :  “When  a  mind 
under  the  influence  of  Hegelism,  which  is  the 
most  daring  and  at  the  same  time  the  most 

*  Une  Etude  sur  la  Sophistique  contemporaine ,  by  P£re 
Gratry,  pp.  124-126. 


244  Carnes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

radical  form  of  sophistry,  has  once  given  way, 
and  destroyed  the  two  extreme  limits  of  reason, 
which  are  evidence  and  the  absurd,  that  mind 
— whatever  may  be  its  riches,  its  distinction, 
its  natural  qualities — that  mind  is  lost.  You 
can  no  longer  reckon  upon  its  judgment.  To 
it  assertion  and  contradiction  are  alike.  It 
seeks  contradiction  methodically.  Philosophy 
is  now  out  of  the  question:  the  mind  is  oc¬ 
cupied  only  with  that  sterile  movement  of 
thought  of,  for,  or  against,  which  Plato  in  the 
Sophist  calls  in  derision  ‘enantiopoiology.’ 

This  sophistry,  the  effects  of  which  are  be¬ 
fore  our  eyes,  springs  directly  from  Pantheism ; 
it  is  the  necessary  application  of  the  only  logic 
which  that  cloudy  system  has  to  show;  which 
lays  down  as  a  thesis  the  identity  of  God  and 
the  world,  of  the  necessary  and  the  contingent, 
of  the  absolute  and  the  relative,  and  thus  ter¬ 
minates  fatally  in  the  confusion  of  truth  and 
falsehood,  good  and  evil,  being  and  non-ex¬ 
istence.  Pantheism  is  the  doctrine  of  universal 
identity  or  general  confusion.  In  this  pre¬ 
tended  philosophy,  light  and  darkness,  day  and 
night,  are  but  one  and  the  same  thing.  Ilegel 
affirms  this  in  express  terms  in  his  logic.  It 
is  the  direct  negation  of  reason,  of  what  hu¬ 
manity  in  all  times  has  always  called  reason. 

*  Ouv.  cit.  pp.  126,  127. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  245 

For  some  years  past  Pantheism  has  in  a  re¬ 
markable  degree  lost  its  prestige  in  the  philoso¬ 
phical  schools;  but  it  has  poisoned  the  reason 
of  Europe,  and  even  in  these  days  intelligent 
men,  otherwise  richly  endowed,  are  attacked  hy 
its  venom.  Many  minds  are  wholly  corrupted ; 
they  have  no  principles  left  in  virtue  of  what 
they  call  progress ;  that  which  is  true  to-day 
may  be  false  to-morrow;  they  have  no  longer  a 
single  fixed  point,  and  their  reason,  being  truly 
uprooted,  vacillates  between  an  assertion  and 
its  contrary,  and  incessantly  contradicts  itself, 
whilst  firmly  believing  in  its  own  fidelity.  In¬ 
tellectual  corruption  is  not  the  same  in  all  soph¬ 
ists;  but  we  are  acquainted  with  several,  re¬ 
garded  as  oracles  by  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  unbelieving  world,  in  whom  reason  appears 
to  be  totally  overthrown. 

How  are  such  minds  to  be  cured?  I  know 
of  but  two  remedies — humility  and  the  sincere 
love  of  truth.  Contempt  of  truth  is  the  char¬ 
acteristic  of  the  sophist,  and  it  is  usually  the 
fruit  of  moral  and  intellectual  egotism — that 
is,  of  pride  in  its  highest  degree.  The  leader 
of  contemporary  sophistry  himself  warns  us 
that  the  soul  must  strip  itself  of  all  love  for 
being,  truth,  justice,  God,  in  order  to  arrive  at 
confounding  being  and  non-being.  Listen  to 
the  profound  teaching  of  these  words :  “The 


246  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

formula,  ‘Being  and  non-being  are  identical/ 
appears  so  great  a  paradox  that  reason  can 
scarcely  regard  it  in  a  serious  light.  Doubt¬ 
less  no  great  effort  of  the  mind  is  necessary  to 
render  the  assertion,  that  being  and  non-being 
are  the  same  thing,  ridiculous,  nor  to  deduce 
absurdities  in  its  application.  Dor  instance,  it 
may  be  maintained  as  a  consequence  of  this 
principle,  that  it  is  the  same  thing  whether  my 
house,  my  goods,  the  air  I  breathe,  this  city, 
the  sun,  justice,  the  soul,  God,  are  or  are  not. 
.  .  .  In  fact,  philosophy  is  precisely  that  doc¬ 
trine  which  teaches  man  to  free  himself  from 
a  multitude  of  special  ends  and  points  of  view, 
and  renders  him  independent  of  everything,  so 
that  it  is  absolutely  indifferent  to  him  whether 
things  are  or  are  not.”* 

Hegel  agrees  then  with  us;  the  absolute  in¬ 
difference  of  the  soul  with  respect  to  all  things 
is,  in  his  eyes  as  it  is  in  ours,  the  source  or 
nourishment  of  sophistry.  Let  this  detestable 
source,  then,  be  dried  up  and  sophistry  will  dis¬ 
appear.  Let  this  deadly  indifference  be  re¬ 
placed  by  the  vivifying  love  of  truth,  justice, 
and  goodness ;  reason  will  then  recover  its  up¬ 
rightness,  and  the  soul,  quitting  the  cloudy 
abyss  where  it  is  struggling,  will  soar  once 
again  to  the  pure,  serene  regions  of  light. 

*  Hegel,  CEuvres,  2  edit.  tom.  vi.  pp.  171,  172. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  247 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Unbelievers  who  admit  the  Fundamental  Prin¬ 
ciples  of  Natural  Religion — Causes  of  their 
Unbelief. 


OPIIISTRY,  scepticism,  materialism,  are 
J  all  radical  forms  of  infidelity,  which  at¬ 
tack  reason  as  directly  as  Faith;  that  is 
to  say,  they  aim  at  the  total  ruin  of  the  moral 
man.  We  will  again  quote  Father  Gratry,  who 
says:  “We  have  frequently  repeated,  after 

Plato,  Leibnitz,  and  others,  that  the  mind  of 
man  may  follow  two  contrary  tendencies,  by 
the  one  raising  itself  toward  being,  toward  God, 
by  the  other,  sinking  toward  nothingness ;  one 
is  followed  by  philosophers,  the  other  by  soph¬ 
ists.  Traces  of  these  two  tendencies  are  to  be 
found  in  all  ages ;  it  is  an  intellectual  imitation 
of  the  life  or  death  of  souls  according  as  they 
ascend  toward  God,  or  depart  from  him  of  their 
own  free  will.”*  The  infidelity  which  has  been 
described  in  the  three  preceding  chapters  is  the 
act  of  minds  which,  by  a  free  and  secret  choice, 

*  Logxque,  tom.  I.  pp.  124,  125. 


248  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

descend  toward  nothingness  and  plunge  them¬ 
selves  into  darkness.  Ho  Christian  age  has  ever 
witnessed  so  many  souls  given  over  to  this  spirit 
of  darkness  as  the  present.  Let  not  earnest  men, 
who  have  retained  some  vigor,  some  moral  up¬ 
rightness,  whether  they  are  believers  or  unbeliev¬ 
ers,  deceive  themselves ;  reason  is  in  peril ;  in  the 
midst  of  the  astonishing  material  progress  which 
this  century  realizes  every  day,  and  to  which  we 
give  our  willing  admiration,  reason,  good  sense, 
that  something  which  is  the  support  and  nec¬ 
essary  safeguard  of  society,  is  visibly  lowered; 
the  moral  standard  of  men’s  minds  has  sunk  in 
a  manner  which  would  alarm  us,  did  we  not 
hope  in  the  invincible  power  of  the  Christiari 
Faith. 

How  is  it  that  the  best  among  rationalists, 
those  who  join  us  in  our  struggles  against  soph¬ 
ists,  obstinately  reject  this  Faith,  without  which 
our  civilization  would  soon  sink  into  the  abject 
grossness  of  materialism  ?  How  is  it  that 
learned  men,  who  recognize  a  personal  God  in¬ 
finitely  good  and  infinitely  wise,  all-powerful 
and  free,  Creator  of  the  world — how  is  it  that 
they  reject  all  positive  intervention  of  this  God 
in  the  government  of  the  human  race,  that  they 
deny  the  miraculous  and  supernatural  order, 
understand  not  that  marvellous,  and,  if  I  may 
be  permitted  to  call  it  so,  that  natural  effusion 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  249 

of  infinite  goodness  in  the  Incarnation  of  Jesus 
Christ?  We  must  endeavor  to  clear  up  this 
moral  mystery. 

From  the  moment  men  admit  miracles  they 
are  no  longer  infidels,  and  in  our  European  so 
ciety  they  are  very  near  being  Christians. 
Now,  is  it  conceivable  that  a  learned  man,  whose 
mind  is  not  corrupted,  should  recognize  a  per¬ 
sonal  and  free  God,  the  Master  of  the  universe, 
and  yet  deny  him  the  power  of  acting  in  the 
world  as  he  pleases,  according  to  the  dictates  of 
his  wisdom  and  the  inspirations  of  his  love  ? 
Droz,  who  had  been  an  infidel  for  a  great  part 
of  his  life,  passes  the  following  judgment  on 
this  incomprehensible  prejudice:  “Infidels 
have  one  fixed  idea.  They  will  have  it  that 
miracles  are  impossible.  When  I  was  hut  a 
Deist,  I  recognized  the  absurdity  of  those  who 
pretended  to  impose  limits  on  Divine  Power. 

I  wfill  add  that  this  age  is  too  enlightened  for 
the  prejudice  which  refuses  to  admit  miracles 
to  subsist.  The  day  will  come  when  it  will  be  . 
a  consequence  of  this  simple  evident  truth: 
God  is  an  Infinite  Being.’’*  Nevertheless,  this 
prejudice,  so  manifestly  contrary  to  reason,  still 
maintains  its  ground. 

We  remarked,  when  relating  the  conversion  of 
the  philosopher  Justin,  that  in  the  early  ages  of 


*  Aveux  d’un  Philosophe  Chretien,  p.  79. 


250 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 


Christianity  pagans  who  were  learned,  and 
anxious  to  discover  trnth,  generally  admitted  the 
Christian  Faith  from  the  moment  that  the  idea 
of  the  true  God,  the  Creator  of  the  world,  had 
fully  taken  possession  of  their  understanding; 
the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  with  its  mysteries, 
its  institutions,  its  practices,  appeared  to  the 
generous  and  grateful  souls  of  these  men  a  con¬ 
sequence  and  in  some  sort  a  natural  application 
of  the  idea  of  a  God  infinitely  perfect,  who  is 
rather  the  Father  than  the  Master  of  the  hu¬ 
man  race.  The  knowledge  of  God  and  of  his 
relations  with  the  world  led  straight  to  the  be¬ 
lief  in  the  Incarnation  of  the  Word  and  in  all 
the  ineffable  inventions  of  the  love  of  the 
Saviour  of  men.*  There  is  not  a  single  pagan 
philosopher  mentioned  in  the  early  ages  of  the 
Church  who  rejected  the  Christian  Faith  after 
having  accepted  the  true  notion  of  God.  Why 
is  it  otherwise  in  our  days  ?  ITow  is  it  that  we 
see  earnest  minds  admit  the  natural,  whilst  they 
reject  the  supernatural  part  of  the  Christian 

*  “The  Sacrament  of  the  Eucharist,”  says  Madame  Swetch- 
ine,  “is  the  noblest  expression  of  a  love  which  can  brook 
no  limit,  no  separation,  no  obstacle.  By  this  adorable  Sacra¬ 
ment  we  feel  the  presence  of  God  in  ourselves,  his  intimate 
union,  not  only  with  the  spirit,  but  also  with  the  flesh  and 
blood.  The  love  of  God,  Almighty  as  himself,  could  go  no 
farther,  but  thus  far  it  could  go,  and  in  mercy  God  has  stopped 
only  at  its  extreme  limits.  .  .  The  reality  of  our  Lord’s  pres¬ 

ence  in  the  Holy  Eucharist  emanates  almost  necessarily  from 
redemption,  as  the  supreme  consequence  and  highest  develop¬ 
ment  of  infinite  love.  The  Eucharist  is  the  natural  effect  of 
a  supernatural  charity.” — Meditations  et  Prieres,  pp.  212, 
213.  Paris,  1863. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  251 

Creed  ?  This  depends  on  certain  moral  disposi¬ 
tions. 

After  St.  Augustine  had  studied  in  the  school 
of  Plato,  he  recovered  himself  nobly ;  he  rose  to 
things  appertaining  to  the  intelligible  world, 
and  found  once  more  the  spiritual  and  perfect 
God,  who  is  the  light  of  the  world.  But  the 
Platonists  had  not  instructed  him  in  the  true 
relations  between  God  and  the  created  universe; 
they  did  not  know  them.  Still,  in  their  school 
he  had  formed  a  sufficiently  pure  idea  of  God, 
though  it  was  incomplete  and  undefined.  In 
this  state  he  saw  no  difficulty  in  believing  in  the 
Word  of  whom  Christianity  speaks,  but  he 
could  not  understand  the  mystery  of  the  Incar¬ 
nation  of  the  Word.  And  why  did  his  mind 
recoil  before  this  mystery  ?  lie  tells  us  himself 
it  was  because  he  was  governed  by  a  pride  which 
hindered  him  from  recognizing  and  confessing 
the  weakness,  the  failings,  the  moral  miseries 
from  which  his  soul  was  suffering.*  When  St. 
Augustine  saw  himself  as  he  really  was,  with 
all  the  humiliations  and  all  the  necessities  of  his 
nature,  then  he  understood  the  benefit  of  the  In¬ 
carnation  of  the  Word,  and  Jesus  Christ  ap¬ 
peared  to  him  as  the  necessary  Pestorer  of  our 
fallen  nature.  Is  it  not  possible  that  many 
rationalists  are  retained  in  unbelief  by  the  same 


*  Conf.  lib.  vii.  c.  20, 


252  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

causes  which  retained  St.  Augustine?  “You 
will  not  come  to  me,”  said  the  Word  Incarnate 
himself  to  the  Jews  who  rejected  him.*  The 
true  root  of  unbelief  is  the  will.  It  is  pride, 
it  is  sensuality,  it  is  egotism  in  some  shape  or 
other  which  hinders  the  will  from  turning  to¬ 
ward  Jesus  Christ  and  fixing  in  sincerity  the 
eye  of  the  understanding  on  this  adorable  form. 
“How  can  you  believe,”  said  the  Saviour  to  the 
Pharisees,  who  were  proud  of  their  vain  wis¬ 
dom — “How  can  you  believe,  who  receive  glory 
from  one  another,  and  the  glory  which  is  from 
God  alone  you  do  not  seek  ?”t  And  once  more : 
“Men  loved  darkness  rather  than  the  light,  for 
their  works  were  evil.”]!  Human  nature  is  still' 
the  same.  St.  Paul  said  that  the  Cross  was  a 
stumbling-block  to  the  Jews  and  foolishness  to 
the  Gentiles.  For  God,  the  Master  of  the  world, 
to  lower  himself,  for  the  love  of  men,  even  to 
die  upon  a  cross,  was,  in  the  eyes  of  egotism, 
an  unspeakable  absurdity.  When  men  do  not 
love,  how  can  they  understand  what  love  is  ? 
When  men  refer  everything  to  themselves,  how 
can  they  comprehend  the  generous  and  admir¬ 
able  folly  of  devotion  and  sacrifice  ?  The  Cross 
of  Jesus  Christ  has  exalted  human  nature.  It 
has  become  to  all  civilized  nations  the  symbol  of 
honor  and  of  glory;  and  nevertheless  it  remains 

*  John  v.  40.  t  John  v.  44.  J  John  iii.  19. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  253 

a  stumbling-block  and  foolishness  to  infidels. 
When  will  they  surmount  the  narrow  boundaries 
of  that  egotism  in  which  they  waste  away  in 
sterile  and  delusive  self-enjoyment  ?  When  will 
they  comprehend  that  if  we,  who  are  evil,  can 
give  our  life  to  save  one  of  our  brethren,  God, 
who  is  Infinite  Goodness,  can  empty  himself,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  expression  of  St.  Paul,  take  the 
form  of  a  servant,  and  die  upon  a  cross,  out  of 
love  for  his  children  and  to  save  them  ?  A 
pure,  devoted,  humble  soul  has  nothing  to  op¬ 
pose  to  the  Christian  Faith,  but  beholds  in  it 
the  most  touching,  and  at  the  same  time  the  most 
magnificent  effusion  of  the  love  of  God. 

Pationalists,  I  well  know,  hide  their  unbelief 
under  fair  pretexts.  Reason,  they  say,  must 
not  abdicate  its  sway;  reason  has  prerogatives 
which  it  may  not  renounce.  In  Christians,  they 
say,  reason  abdicates  by  submitting  to  a  power 
foreign  to  itself  and  by  accepting  mysteries 
which  it  cannot  understand  on  the  authority  of 
that  power.  I  wish  to  believe  that  men  are  sin¬ 
cere  when  they  speak  thus,  but  we  are  so  ingeni¬ 
ous  in  deceiving  ourselves  when  the  sacrifice  of 
some  passion  is  in  question.  Ask  Droz,  Au¬ 
gustine  Thierry,  Maine  de  Biran,  or  any  other 
of  the  numerous  infidels  who  have  recently  re¬ 
turned  to  the  Faith,  whether  they  sacrificed  one 
single  prerogative  of  reason  in  submitting  to 


254  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

the  authority  of  the  Church;  they  will  answer, 
that  they  had  certainly  to  sacrifice  prejudices 
and  passions,  but  that  on  becoming  Christians 
they  did  but  yield  full  obedience  to  reason. 
Why,  then,  speak  of  the  abdication  of  reason, 
and  of  a  power  foreign  to  reason?  Is  God  a 
stranger  to  reason?  We  Catholics  bow  before 
the  authority  of  the  Church,  because  we  regard 
her  as  the  representative  and  permanent  organ 
of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Word  made  flesh;  we  be¬ 
lieve  this  not  blindly,  not  lightly,  but  because  the 
proofs  which  establish  it  are  evident  to  the 
eyes  of  reason.  Faith  is  finite  reason,  obeying 
infinite  reason,  or  the  Word  of  God,  in  all 
things;  what  can  be  more  just?  what  more  * 
worthy  of  us  ?  We  admit  doctrines,  it  is  true, 
which  transcend  reason  and  which  reason  can 
only  half  understand,  but  we  accept  them  on 
the  testimony  of  an  authority  whose  title  can¬ 
not  be  disputed.  Besides,  in  things  of  the 
purely  natural  order,  the  human  mind  meets 
with  obscurities,  with  unfathomable  mysteries ; 
why,  then,  should  it  take  offence  at  mysteries 
of  the  supernatural  order  ? 

Jules  Simon,  one  of  the  leaders  of  spiritual¬ 
istic  rationalism,  speaks  eloquently  of  the  mys¬ 
teries  of  the  natural  order,  but  condemns  abso¬ 
lutely,  in  the  name  of  reason,  the  mysteries  of 
Christianity.  This  philosopher  sees  an  essen- 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  255 

tial  difference  between  the  incomprehensible 
and  mystery  in  the  Christian  sense  of  the  word. 
These  are  the  incredible  words  which  he  has 
written  on  the  subject  in  the  first  edition  of  his 
book,  La  Religion  Naturelle:  “If,  in  this  ex¬ 
planation  of  the  incomprehensible,  propositions 
are  enunciated  which  are  not  proved,  which  do 
not  convey  a  precise  meaning  to  the  mind,  and 
which  imply  contradiction  in  terms,  this  new 
doctrine  is  that  which  properly  constitutes  mys¬ 
tery.  This  doctrine  is  not  only  incomprehensi¬ 
ble  ;  besides  this  characteristic  it  has  three 
others :  it  is  affirmed  without  being  demon- 
strated ;  it  is  not  intelligible  in  its  enunciation; 
it  contains  a  formal  contradiction.”*  All  this 
is  false,  absolutely  false,  and  in  direct  opposi¬ 
tion  to  all  the  teaching  of  Catholic  theology. 
Christian  mysteries  are  all  demonstrated ;  not 
in  themselves,  doubtless,  but  in  revelation,  the 
existence  of  which  is  verified  by  reason  with  an 
evidence  which  defies  objection;  all  are  intelli¬ 
gible  in  their  enunciation,  and  no  one  has  ever 
been  able  to  discover  the  slightest  contradiction 
in  a  single  dogma  of  Christianity.  Jules  Simon 
knows  nothing  of  our  great  theologians,  who, 
nevertheless,  deserve  to  be  consulted  by  every 
earnest  philosopher.  He  knows  not  that  a 

*  La  Religion  Naturelle,  pp.  233.  234.  The  author  has 
modified  this  language  in  the  third  edition  of  his  work,  but  he 
has  not  corrected  the  idea  which  it  expresses. 


256  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

science  exists  infinitely  higher  than  the  petty 
philosophy  with  which  rationalism  seeks  to 
nourish  superior  minds,  and  that  this  science, 
which  is  called  theology,  consists  precisely  in 
the  explanation  of  all  those  mysteries  of  which 
he  speaks  so  lightly.*  But  at  least  he  knows 
Leibnitz,  for  he  has  borrowed  largely  from  him. 
]STow  Leibnitz  establishes  clearly  that  the  Chris¬ 
tian  mysteries  are  not  contradictory;  that  they 
do  not  contradict  reason;  that  they  are  not  con¬ 
trary  to  any  truth  evidently  recognized  by  rea¬ 
son  ;  that  their  enunciation  presents  a  suffi¬ 
ciently  intelligible  meaning  to  the  mind,  and 
that,  in  short,  all  objections  opposed  to  them 
may  be  solved.  “That  which  is  contrary  to  mys¬ 
teries  in  us,”  says  Leibnitz,  “is  not  reason,  or 
the  natural  light,  or  the  natural  sequence  of 
truths;  it  is  corruption,  it  is  error  or  prejudice, 
it  is  darkness. ”t  This  is  what  that  great  man 
thought  of  the  contradictions  which  erring 
minds  imagine  they  have  discovered  in  the  mys¬ 
teries  of  Christianity. 

Let  people  cease  to  set  the  prerogatives  and 
dignity  of  human  reason  against  the  Christian 

*  Relying  on  the  works  of  the  authorized  interpreters  of 
theology,  we  have  ourselves  attempted  a  thorough  explanation 
of  all  the  mysteries  of  the  Catholic  Creed.  We  do  not  pretend 
to  have  demonstrated  those  mysteries,  but  we  think  we  have 
placed  them  in  such  a  light,  that,  according  to  the  expression 
of  F.  Lacordaire,  “pride  can  only  insult  itself  in  despising 
them.’' 

t  Essais  de  Theoft'cee.  Discours  de  la  Conformity  de  la  Eoi 
et  de  la  Raison,  n.  61. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  257 


Faith.  We  believe  on  good  evidence;  our  faith 
has  nothing  in  common  with  credulity.  “There 
is  a  great  difference/’  as  Joubert  well  observes, 
“between  credulity  and  faith;  one  is  a  natural 
'defect  of  the  mind,  the  other  is  a  virtue;  the 
first  comes  from  our  extreme  weakness,  the  sec¬ 
ond  has  a  mild  and  praiseworthy  docility  for  its 
principle,  quite  compatible  with  strength,  and 
■which  is  even  highly  favorable  to  strength.”* 
This  docility,  whence  faith  springs,  is  not  con¬ 
trary  to  our  dignity;  it  is  only  contrary  to  our 
pride.  “Let  us  be  men  with  men,”  says  Joubert 
once  more,  “but  before  God  let  us  be  always 
children;  for,  in  fact,  we  are  but  children  in  his 
eyes.”+  Dignity,  in  whatever  way  we  under¬ 
stand  it,  can  only  lose  by  that  self-sufficiency 
which  affects  to  depend  on  self  alone,  and  re¬ 
fuses  to  bow  before  the  Gospel.  “When  a  man 
has  rebelled  against  the  Gospel,”  says  Madame 
Swetchine,  “he  has  .given  himself  a  master,  and 
that  is  himself ;  a  master  who  prepares  the  way 
for  many  more  by  a  continual  descent.” 

Faith  is  no  more  opposed  to  the  freedom  of 
reason  than  to  its  dignity :  as  we  have  alreadv 
said,  it  is  only  contrary  to  the  libertinism  of  rea¬ 
son.  “Why,”  observes  Madame  Swetchine, 
“should  not  faith  bind  our  understanding  as 

•  Penstes,  tom.  ii.  p.  26.  Paris,  1862. 

t  Ibid. 

17 


258  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

morality  binds  our  actions  ?  Do  we  cease  to 
be  free  because  we  are  virtuous  ?  Why  should 
we  cease  to  be  free  because  we  are  believers  ? 
Does  not  true  liberty  always  exercise  itself  in 
a  given  space  ?  Does  it  not  require  a  centre  to 
attract  it,  and  a  basis  for  its  support  V 


*  De  la  Verite  du  Christianisme ,  p.  85. 


k 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  259 


CHAPTER  X. 

Recapitulation  of  the  Causes  of  Unbelief — 
How  a  Young  Man  may  beco7ne  an  Infidel. 

♦4Y”  BELIEVE  that  I  have  now  pointed  out 
the  chief  causes  of  infidelity.  These 
causes,  as  I  have  shown,  are  many  and 
diverse ;  but  infidelity  depends  far  more  on  the 
will  and  on  a  certain  moral  state  of  the  soul 
than  on  the  understanding.  Faith  is  an  act  of 
the  understanding,  since  its  object  is  the  re¬ 
vealed  truth  of  God ;  but  in  order  that  the  un¬ 
derstanding  may  give  its  assent  to  Divine  Truth 
and  firmly  adhere  to  it,  the  intervention  of  the 
will  is  necessary,  and  under  the  inspiration  of 
the  grace  of  God  the  will  intervenes  freely. 
This  grace  is  refused  to  none.  Faith  is  free; 
therefore  it  is  meritorious ;  faith  is  a  virtue,  and 
virtue,  as  a  moral  act,  presupposes  freedom. 
Man  is  free  to  choose  between  faith  and  un¬ 
belief  in  the  same  way  that  he  is  free  to  choose 
between  good  and  evil,  on  condition  of  bearing 
the  responsibility  of  his  choice.  We  are  free 
to  adhere  or  not  to  adhere  to  revealed  truth; 


260  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

first,  because  even  in  things  that  are  evident,  it 
depends  on  ourselves  whether  we  will  turn 
away  the  eyes  of  our  understanding  from  the 
light  that  enlightens  all  things — whether  we 
will  arrest  the  spring  of  our  mind,  give  it  a 
false  direction  or  even  corrupt  it ;  secondly,  be¬ 
cause  the  principal  object  of  faith  is  not  self- 
evident,  but  is  obscure.  “All  religion  is  in  the 
same  plane:  light  is  always  mingled  with  ob¬ 
scurity  ;  and  why  ?  In  order  that  faith  may  be 
a  virtue.”*  This  mingling  of  light  and  dark¬ 
ness  is  the  necessary  condition  of  this  present 
life,  because  it  is  a  life  of  probation;  the  full 
day  will  dawn  only  when  trial  shall  have  ceased. 

Ignorance  itself,  which  is  one  of  the  common¬ 
est  sources  of  infidelity,  is  often  the  result  of  an 
evil-disposed  will.  In  such  case  ignorance  is 
culpable,  and  its  guilt  is  greater  or  less,  ac¬ 
cording  as  it  is  more  or  less  wilful.  How  can 
we  excuse  the  levity,  the  dissipation,  the  indif¬ 
ference  in  which  most  unbelievers  live,  and 
whence  their  ignorance  of  religion  proceeds  ? 
Are  not  reasonable  beings  bound  to  seek  seri¬ 
ously  and  sincerely  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  ? 
Moral  indifference,  the  ordinary  source  of  re¬ 
ligious  ignorance,  is  capable  of  leading  to  every 
degree  of  degradation  and  ruin.  When  a  mind 
is  infected  by  it,  it  rarely  stops  at  the  rejection 

*  Madame  Swetchine,  Pensees ,  tom.  ii.  p.  89. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  261 

of  Christianity,  but  almost  always  descends  to 
the  denial  or  corruption  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  natural  religion;  generally  it  be¬ 
comes  materialistic,  and  believes  only  in  sensible 
realities.  Materialism,  which  is  the  lowest  de¬ 
gree  of  moral  and  intellectual  degradation,  is 
the  most  frequent  result  of  indifference  in  relig¬ 
ious  matters.  Scepticism,  which  is  the  supreme 
impotence  of  reason,  often  depends  on  a  moral 
condition  similar  to  that  which  engenders  and 
nourishes  materialism.  In  certain  minds  of 
high  intelligence,  eager  for  truth,  it  may  spring 
from  a  senseless  pride  which  has  had  a  cruel 
fall.  People  flatter  themselves  that  they  can 
remove  the  limits  of  reason;  they  want  to  be 
able  to  see  the  truth  without  clouds,  and  when 
these  clouds,  which  they  believed  themselves 
able  to  disperse,  continually  reappear,  they 
grow  angry,  and  end  by  denying  the  light  be¬ 
cause  of  the  shadows  which  they  themselves  cast 
upon  it.  This  is  the  despair  of  disappointed 
pride.  Put  there  is  a  malady  of  the  soul  still 
more  difficult  to  cure  than  scepticism  or  mate¬ 
rialism,  and  it  is  that  condition  of  intellectual 
corruption  which  is  called  sophistry.  We  have 
seen  this  frightful  and  fatal  malady,  which  de¬ 
stroys  many  highly-gifted  minds.  It  is  useless 
to  seek  to  convince  sophists  that  they  are  in  er¬ 
ror;  they  will  not  understand  you;  they  contra- 


262  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

diet  themselves  at  every  step,  whilst  they  main¬ 
tain  with  imperturbable  assurance  that  they 
never  contradict  themselves,  and  that  they  con¬ 
stantly  obey  reason.  They  are  minds  which  lit¬ 
erally  see  everything  crosswise,  and  it  is  im¬ 
possible  to  reason  with  them.  “If  thy  eye  be 
“  clear/’  says  the  Gospel,  “thy  whole  body  shall 
be  lightsome ;  but  if  thy  eye  be  evil,  thy  whole 
body  shall  be  darksome.”*  The  intellectual  eye 
of  sophists  is  evil ;  simplicity  and  clearness  must 
be  restored  to  it,  otherwise  they  cannot  receive 
the  light,  or  they  receive  it  imperfectly.  How 
can  this  be  done  ?  Only  by  changing  the  soul 
in  its  inmost  depths.  Let  them  yield  less  to 
egotism  ;  let  them  love  truth  more ;  let  their  will  * 
be  simple  and  just,  and  their  understanding  will 
promptly  recover  that  uprightness  which  is  the 
.condition  of  true  enlightenment. 

The  greatest  obstacle  to  the  Christian  Faith 
is  egotism ;  egotism  of  the  senses,  or  sensuality ; 
egotism  of  the  mind,  or  pride ;  egotism  in  every 
form.  We  have  each  of  us  daily  to  struggle 
against  this  egotism,  which  shuts  out  innumer¬ 
able  souls  from  the  light  of  Faith.  If  unbeliev¬ 
ers,  of  whatever  kind,  were  animated  by  a  gen¬ 
erous  love  of  truth — if  they  showed  that  they 
were  ready  to  embrace  it  at  the  price  of  any  sac¬ 
rifice — they  would  soon  become  Christians. 


*  Matt.  vi.  22,  23. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  2G3 

Their  will,  recovering  its  rectitude  and  its  moral 
energy,  would  turn  the  eye  of  the  understanding 
in  the  right  direction,  and  would  confirm  the  un¬ 
derstanding  in  its  adhesion  to  recognized  truth. 
Doubtless  we  mav  hesitate  even  in  the  face  of 
known  truth;  but  such  hesitation  is  a  culpable 
weakness,  and  if  the  will  be  pure  and  vigorous 
it  will  not  hesitate.  Moreover,  God  will  sustain 
it,  because  it  will  be  humble  and  suppliant  as 
it  becomes  every  created  will  to  be. 

See  this  young  man  of  twenty.  He  has  been 
baptized  into  the  Church  of  God,  and  has  re¬ 
ceived  the  Divine  seed  of  Faith  in  the  Sacra¬ 
ment  of  regeneration.  This  blessed  seed  has 
germinated  under  the  breath  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  by  the  culture  which  it  has  received  from 
the  pious  solicitude  of  a  Christian  family. 
This  young  man  has  made  his  first  Communion, 
he  has  been  marked  in  the  Sacrament  of  Con¬ 
firmation  with  the  seal  of  Christian  manhood. 
But  now  he  believes  no  longer;  the  Christian 
life  of  his  soul  has  disappeared;  Faith  appears 
to  be  wholly  extinct  within  him.  He  goes  so 
far  as  even  to  affect  pity  for  the  belief  which  in 
his  tender  years  he  shared  with  his  mother ;  he 
parades  a  supreme  contempt  for  the  teaching 
of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ;  he  is  astonished 
that  defenders  of  such  teaching  can  still  be 
found;  he  is  inclined  to  regard  the  defenders  of 


264  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

the  Faith  of  his  childhood  as  hypocrites,  seeking 
to  make  their  profit  out  of  the  ignorance  and 
credulity  of  the  simple.  What  can  have  hap-x 
pened  to  work  such  a  revolution  in  this  youth¬ 
ful  mind  ?  If  we  ask  him,  he  will  probably  tell 
us  what  are  the  new  sources  of  light  whence  he 
has  drawn  decisive  proofs  against  that  old  Faith 
which  for  nineteen  centuries  has  held  captive 
the  loftiest  intellects,  and  reigned  over  the 
noblest  and  the  purest  wills.  What  has  this 
contemptuous  youth  seen  of  the  Faith  of  Bos- 
suet,  of  Leibnitz,  of  Joseph  Gorres,  of  Lacor- 
daire,  of  Ozanam,  of  so  many  eminent  men  who 
in  our  days  have  adorned  and  still  adorn  philos¬ 
ophy,  literature,  criticism,  science  ?  Hear  him :  ‘ 
he  has  scrutinized  everything,  examined  every¬ 
thing  by  the  torch  of  pure  and  independent  rea¬ 
son.  The  Catholic  Creed  cannot  sustain  for  a 
moment  the  examination  of  serious  criticism. 
Philosophy,  history,  science,  agree  to  condemn 
it.  .  .  .  What  composure !  what  assurance ! 
what  proud,  triumphant  judgments  !  But  these 
lofty  affirmations,  these  pompous  maxims,  can¬ 
not  impose  on  any  one  who  has  had  experience 
of  men  and  things ;  such  an  one  easily  discovers 
behind  the  clatter  of  pretensions  and  empty 
phrases  the  true  history  of  this  poor  soul.  It 
is  this: 

This  young  man,  who  so  proudly  condemns 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  265 

Catholic  belief,  has  examined  nothing  for  him¬ 
self  ;  he  has  had  neither  the  leisure  nor  the  will 
to  do  so.  He  has  read  none  of  the  great  works 
of  the  Christian  apologists ;  he  has  not  even 
opened  a  detailed  and  scientific  exposition  of 
the  dogmas  which  the  Church  teaches.  He  con¬ 
demns  Christianity  on  hearsay  with  the  lightest 
and  blindest  faith  that  can  be  imagined.  His 
morals  being  already  tainted,  doubt  entered  his 
soul  the  first  time  he  heard  a  contemptuous 
word  spoken  with  regard  to  the  Faith  which 
had  enlightened  his  tender  years;  he  gave  ear  to 
the  word  of  the  tempter,  which  met  with  a  sym¬ 
pathetic  and  ready  echo  in  a  heart  already  de¬ 
graded,  or  on  the  eve  of  becoming  so.  Doubt 
having  penetrated  his  soul  and  disturbed  its 
serenity,  he  sought  not  to  conquer  it;  on  the 
contrary,  he  acted  so  as  to  encourage  it  and  with 
the  secret  desire  of  beholding  its  perfect 
triumph  over  the'  ruins  of  an  austere  faith. 
He  let  loose  his  sensual  passions,  or  at  least 
contenting  himself  with  avoiding  gross  excess, 
he  did  but  half  restrain  them;  he  fed  his  un¬ 
derstanding  with  writings  hostile  to  Catholi¬ 
cism,  and  would  only  read  such  books  and  jour¬ 
nals  as  calumniated  the  Church  in  her  dogma, 
her  worship,  her  history,  her  present  life,  in  all 
her  manifestations.  These  writings,  in  which 
ignorance  rivals  hate,  are  henceforth  his  sole 


266  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

light,  his  sole  authority  in  religious  questions; 
he  blindly  repeats  the  sentences  he  finds  in 
them,  imagining  perhaps  that  he  is  judging  the 
teaching  of  Faith  with  entire  intellectual  in¬ 
dependence.  Poor  young  man !  Your  affected 
independence  of  reason  will  only  deceive  chil¬ 
dren  ;  any  serious  observer  will  tell  you  how  you 
have  descended  all  the  steps  of  the  ladder  of 
doubt  and  infidelity;  he  will  give  you  the  his¬ 
tory  of  your  moral  and  intellectual  falls,  and 
placing  his  finger  on  the  wounds  of  your  heart, 
as  well  as  on  the  wounds  of  your  understanding, 
he  will  force  you  to  confess,  if  you  are  sincere, 
that  reason  and  science  have  no  part  in  your 
condition,  and  that  your  unbelief  is  the  fruit 
of  weakness  and  decay  of  every  kind.  Do  not 
deceive  yourself ;  infidelity  is  not  an  elevation, 
hut  a  degradation ;  it  is  a  fall,  it  is  a  moral  and 
intellectual  decline ;  and  this  decline  in  a  young 
man  who  has  been  educated  in  the  Christian 
Faith  is  usually  brought  about  by  the  ruin  of 
more  faculties  than  one.  Some  young  men  fall 
into  infidelity  in  consequence  of  manifold  low 
and  degrading  actions,  which  have  extinguished 
their  moral  life.  Many,  thank  God,  descend 
not  thus  far;  they  stop  themselves  on  the  sad 
incline.  They  lose  the  Faith  hv  hostile  teach¬ 
ing,  by  irreligious  reading,  by  intercourse  with 
indifferent  or  adverse  companions,  by  the  very 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  267 

atmosphere  of  infidelity  that  surrounds  them; 
hut  though  their  soul  may  have  undergone  many 
falls,  the  moral  life  still  animates  it.  La 
Bruvere  said :  “I  would  fain  see  a  man  who  is 
sober,  moderate,  chaste,  equitable,  declare  that 
there  is  no  God;  he  would  at  least  speak  dis¬ 
interestedly;  but  such  a  man  is  not  to  be 
found. ”*  For  my  part,  I  would  fain  see  a 
young  man  who  is  chaste,  modest,  humble,  seri¬ 
ously  instructed  in  Christian  doctrine,  declare, 
that  the  Faith  which  he  received  from  his 
mother  the  Catholic  Church  is  without  founda¬ 
tion  :  hitherto  I  have  never  met  with  such  a 
young  man. 

t/  O 

But  what  1  have  often  seen,  what  we  see  every 
day,  is  this:  men  of  ripe  intellect,  after  years 
of  wandering,  return  to  the  Faith  and  to  the 
practices  which  it  imposes,  acknowledging  and 
declaring,  in  all  humility,  that  their  unbelief 
was  but  the  fruit 'of  vanity,  ignorance,  or  pas¬ 
sion.  It  is  a  fact  of  dailv  observation  that  men 
regain  the  summits  of  faith  by  the  pure  and 
persevering  love  of  truth  and  virtue,  as  they  de¬ 
scend  into  the  abyss  of  infidelity  by  pursuing 
a  contrary  path.  A  pure  and  humble  soul,  lov¬ 
ing  truth  and  justice,  opens  of  itself  to  the  light 
of  faith ;  and  the  holier  it  is  the  higher  in  the 
moral  order,  the  greater  its  knowledge  of  God 


*  Les  Characteres,  chap.  xvi. 


268  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

and  of  itself,  the  deeper  and  more  lively  will 
be  its  faith.  Faith  grows  in  direct  proportion 
to  the  purity  and  moral  light  of  the  soul.  This 
is  a  fact  attested  by  the  whole  history  of  Chris¬ 
tianity.  I  will  conclude  by  recommending  this 
fact  to  the  consideration  of  all  sincere  men. 

The  cure  of  unbelief  will  obviously  be  found 
in  serious  reflection  on  the  preceding  truths, 
and  in  earnest  prayer  for  light  and  grace:  “I 
wished,  and  understanding  was  given  me;  and 
I  called  upon  God,  and  the  spirit  of  wisdom 
came  upon  me:  And  I  preferred  her  before 
kingdoms  and  thrones,  and  esteemed  riches 
nothing  in  comparison  of  her.  Now  all  good 
things  came  to  me  together  with  her,  and  in¬ 
numerable  riches  through  her  hands;  for  she 
is  an  infinite  treasure  to  men,  which  thev  that 
use  become  the  friends  of  God”  (Wis.  7 : 
7-14). 

Ask,  with  the  confidence  of  the  blind  man  of 
Jericho:  “Lord,  that  I  may  see.” 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 


2G9 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Paganism  Under  a  New  Name . 

BY  ARCHBISHOP  RYAN. 

HRISTIA1STITY  is  a  fact  in  the  history  of 
y  \  ^  the  human  race,  the  most  mysterious  in 
its  nature,  the  most  stupendous  and  uni¬ 
versal  in  its  effects — a  fact  which  philosophy 
cannot  ignore,  nor  infidelity  deny,  nor  skepti¬ 
cism  doubt,  which  has  influenced  religion,  arts, 
arms,  sciences,  literature,  social  life,  politics, 
human  happiness,  human  suffering,  human  pro¬ 
gress  more  than  any  other  fact  in  the  history  of 
our  race.  The  unbeliever  who  regards  it  lightly 
as  one  of  the  many  false  religions  embraced  by 
man  at  various  periods  of  his  history,  who 
thinks  that  its  influences  were  simply  and  ex- 
clusively  confined  to  the  secret  intercourse  be- 
tween  the  Creator  and  the  creature,  such  a  one 
can  never  adequately  understand  the  philosophy 
of  human  history.  Christianity  refashioned  the 
whole  being  of  man,  politically  and  socially,  as 
well  as  religiously.  It  formed  not  only  the 
Christian  saint,  but  the  Christian  statesman, 


270  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

the  Christian  warrior,  the  Christian  citizen,  the 
Christian  artist,  the  Christian  soldier  and  the 
Christian  philanthropist. 

Christian  civilization  is  based  on  and  motived 
by  great  Christian  doctrines,  which  if  weakened 
or  denied  will  weaken  or  rnin  the  great  super¬ 
structure  itself  and  send  us  back  not  merely  to 
pagan  civilization,  but  much  farther.  For  even 
paganism  taught  great  conservative  truths,  such 
as  the  existence  of  the  Supreme  Being  and  his 
providence  over  men,  and  the  doctrine  of  future 
rewards  and  punishments,  which  modern  unbe¬ 
lief  affects  to  deny. 

Let  us  observe  the  countries  of  the  world 
which  have  remained  unconverted,  and  those 
also,  the  nations,  that  tried  to  unchristianize 
themselves.  Take  as  a  specimen  France,  once 
so  gloriously  Christian,  in  the  full  noontide  of 
her  unchristian  days.  She  sought  in  the  mad 
paroxysm  of  the  revolution  to  cast  aside  her 
Christian  doctrines  and  traditions,  and  with 
them  lost  her  Christian  civilization.  She 
abolished  the  Sabbath,  desecrated  the  sanctuary, 
shattered  the  tabernacles,  broke  the  statues  of 
Christ  and  his  saints,  and  flung  off  the  Christian 
yoke.  By  one  wild,  desperate  spring  she 
plunged  into  the  chasm  of  wTorse  than  paganism. 
Christianity,  with  folded  arms,  looked  on  from 
a  distance  to  see  how  France  could  live  without 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  271 

her.  Deeds  of  blood,  fearful  as  those  of  Roman 
story,  characterized  the  new  regime.  The  mere 
humanitarian  theories  of  infidel  philosophy 
could  never  elevate  her.  When  tried,  thev 
melted  in  the  sunshine  like  the  waxen  pinions 
of  the  Athenian  artist.  France  sank  into  the 
wildest  barbarism  in  the  “Reign  of  Terror. ” 
This  is  a  lesson  to  posterity  of  the  essential  con¬ 
nection  of  Christianity  and  true  civilization. 

A  FATAL  ERROR. 

But  here  I  may  be  confronted  by  some  young 
orator  of  progress,  who  would  say  to  me:  “I 
acknowledge  that  Christianity  did  great  things 
in  its  day,  but  that  day  has  passed.  It  helped 
humanity  in  its  infancy  to  rise  and  walk,  but 
now  it  needs  no  such  assistance.  The  Church 
must  conform  herself  to  the  new  and  advanced 
state  of  things  or'  be  pulverized  beneath  the 
chariot  wheels  of  progress.  We  freely  admire 
and  adopt  all  that  is  beautiful  in  the  morality 
of  Christianity;  we  admire  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  and  its  Preacher.  We  take  its  morality, 
but  we  care  little  for  its  doctrines,  for  these  doc¬ 
trines  only  lead  to  differences  of  opinion  and 
sectarianism.  ” 

One  of  the  most  fatal  and  demoralizing  su¬ 
perstitions  of  this  country  is  this  attempted 


272  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

separation  of  morality  from  doctrinal  teaching. 
Doctrines  are  as  the  granite  foundation  to  the 
whole  edifice  of  Christian  ethics,  and  with  them 
that  edifice  must  stand  or  crumble  into  ruins. 
What  underlies  the  value  of  holy  childhood  but 
the  doctrine  that  the  child  has  an  immortal  soul  ? 
Abolish  this,  look  at  the  child  only  in  the  light 
of  its  utility  to  the  State,  and  soon  infanticide 
will  commence  again,  and  deformed  children 
will  he  put  to  death  when  men  shall  have  lost 
the  tenderness  which  Christianity  has  produced 
and  fostered.  Most  men  admire  the  Church’s 
action  in  regard  to  divorce.  They  believe  that 
her  conservatism  in  this  respect  is  essential  to 
the  preservation  of  the  family  and  the  sanctity 
of  human  love.  But  all  her  action  and  her  suf¬ 
ferings  in  maintaining  this  principle  are 
founded  on  a  doctrine  that  marriage  is  indissol¬ 
uble,  and  because  of  this  doctrine  the  Pope  him¬ 
self  and  all  the  Bishops  of  the  world  united  with 
him  cannot  grant  a  single  divorce.  Look  at  the 
great  motives  of  human  action.  Behold  that 
young  man  contending  with  fearful  temptation, 
wrestling  with  some  “mid-day  demon.”  The 
pleasure  promised  is  certain  and  alluring.  Re¬ 
ligion  whispers  in  his  ear,  “Fear  God ;  listen  to 
your  conscience.  You  know  that  to  yield  is 
wrong.  Remember  the  punishment  which  God 
lias  threatened.  Remember  the  heaven  you  re- 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  273 

nounce  if  you  yield,  and  the  hell  whose  pun¬ 
ishment  you  will  deserve.”  Now,  all  this  warn¬ 
ing  is  based  on  doctrines.  Only  whisper  in  his 
ear,  “There  is  no  hell.  God  is  indulgent,  or 
takes  no  cognizance  of  human  action.”  Strike 
down  tilt?  great  truth,  and  you  strike  down  the 
great  motive.  Again,  look  at  the  marvellous  in¬ 
stitutions  of  charity  throughout  the  world,  sis¬ 
terhoods  and  brotherhoods.  These  people  have 
sworn  that  in  poverty,  chastity  and  obedience 
they  shall  wait  upon  sufferers  whom  they  never 
saw  before,  and  with  whom  in  many  cases  they 
can  have  little  human  sympathy.  ITow  account 
for  this  phenomenon  ?  Not  by  fanaticism, 
which  is  short-lived  and  uncertain,  whereas 
these  sacrifices  have  lasted  nineteen  hundred 
years.  No,  there  is  but  one  solution:  all  this 
work  of  charity  is  built  on  a  single  doctrine  that 
Christ  has  identified  himself  with  the  poor  and 
the  outcast,  and  that  in  attending  to  them  we 
aid  ITim.  The  fevered  brow  is  the  brow  crowned 
with  thorns;  the  prisoner  in  jail  is  the  captive 
of  Pontius  Pilate ;  the  man  dying  on  the  scaf¬ 
fold  the  crucified  sufferer  of  Calvary.  Thus 
Christ  is  loved  and  tended  in  His  representa¬ 
tives.  Deny  this  single  doctrine  and  you  rob 
the  sick,  the  poor,  the  prisoner  and  the  dying 
of  their  consolers,  and  civilization  of  one  of  its 
most  glorious  triumphs. 

18 


274  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief . 

IN'  THE  HOUR  OF  AFFLICTION. 

Look  again  at  the  influence  of  doctrinal  teach¬ 
ing  in  the  hour  of  affliction.  Look  at  that  poor, 
broken-hearted  wretch  who  feels  that  the  world 
has  rejected  him.  Why  should  he  live  ?  Why 
should  he  endure  “the  stings  and  arrows  of  this 
outrageous  fortune  ?”  There  is  nothing  left  to 
live  for,  and  suicide  seems  his  only  relief. 
Then  Christian  faith  descends  like  the  com¬ 
forting  angel  of  Gethsemane  and  whispers  to 
him,  “There  is  One  beyond  the  stars  who  takes 
cognizance  of  every  sigh  and  tear  and  heart  . 
moan.  lie  has  said  that,  if  a  mother  should  for¬ 
get  her  child,  lie  will  not  forget  thee,  His  crea¬ 
ture.  Bear  your  sufferings  for  a  little  time. 
He  will  aid  you  in  bearing  them  and  reward 
you  for  having  borne  them.”  But  tell  him, 
“There  is  no  God  to  hear  you;  or,  if  there  be 
one,  He  is  too  far  away  and  too  glorious  to  care 
for  a  broken-hearted  wretch  like  you.”  Take 
away  the  doctrine  of  faith,  and  suicide,  which 
is  becoming  so  common,  is  the  resort  of  the  child 
of  misfortune  in  the  hour  of  misery. 

And  as  faith  diminishes  suicide  must  in¬ 
crease.  Statistics  show  us  that  in  ten  years  it 
increased  thirty  per  cent,  in  Germany.  It  is 
increasing  in  Trance,  and  will  increase  in  pro¬ 
portion  as  faith  loses  its  hold  upon  the  children 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief .  275 

of  men.  One  thing  is  remarkable  in  the  statis¬ 
tics  of  suicide,  and  that  is  the  disproportion  of 
women  to  men.  Women  are  supposed  to  believe 
more  and  trust  more  deeply  than  men,  and  in 
one  list  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  cases, 
where  suicide  was  attributed  to  weariness  of 
life,  there  were  found  but  six  women  to  one  hun¬ 
dred  men.  It  is  known  that  among  Germans 
who  endeavor  to  act  out  their  faith,  as  the  Cath¬ 
olics  and  Lutherans,  suicide  is  almost  unknown. 
So  that  it  is  not  to  be  attributed  to  a  national 
temperament,  but  to  loss  of  faith  and  of  hope 
which  makes  life  wearisome.  It  is  remarked  of 
the  Irish  who  have  faith,  that  suicide  is  almost 
unheard  of  amongst  them,  and  this  is  to  be  at¬ 
tributed,  at  least  to  a  great  extent,  to  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  that  faith  upon  them  in  the  hour  of 
their  trying  afflictions.  Some  have  asserted  that 
it  is  rather  pugnacity  than  piety.  An  Irishman 
does  not  like  to  be  beaten  in  a  fight,  even  in  the 
“fight  of  life,”  and  regards  suicide  as  an  act  of 
cowardice,  which  in  truth  it  is.  But  this  is  not 
sufficient  to  account  for  his  victory  over  afflic¬ 
tion. 


PAGANISM  UNDER  ANOTHER  NAME. 

I  might  continue  to  show  you  that  doctrines 
underlie  and  give  motive  to  all  the  great  works 
of  Christian  civilization.  To  expect  effects 


276  Carnes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

without  causes,  to  tear  up  the  root  and  the  stem 
and  hope  that  the  flower  and  the  fruit  will  re¬ 
main,  to  attempt  to  retain  the  morality  of 
Christianity  without  its  doctrinal  teaching  is  as 
illogical  as  it  is  destructive  of  true  civilization. 

I  think  I  can  already  see  in  the  comparative 
levity  with  which  men  begin  to  regard  the  great 
crime  of  perjury  and  in  the  fact  that  it  is  not 
as  certainly  and  as  severely  punished  now  as 
in  former  times  evidence  of  the  effect  of  neglect¬ 
ing  to  realize  the  importance  of  doctrinal  teach¬ 
ing.  Perjury  supposes  belief  in  two  great 
truths:  Pirst,  that  God  may  be  called  to  wit-, 
ness  what  we  state ;  second,  that  He  will  punish 
any  man  who  calls  on  Him  to  witness  a  lie  as  the 
truth.  In  proportion  to  the  depth  of  our  faith 
in  these  truths  is  our  dread  of  perjury.  If  we 
deny  them  entirely,  perjury  is  no  more  than 
lying,  which  is  proverbially  easy  to  many  peo¬ 
ple.  I  have  shown  how  many  other  great  con¬ 
servative  influences  depend  on  faith  in  doc¬ 
trines,  and  must  fall  with  that  faith. 

But  someone  may  say  that  it  is  utterly  im¬ 
possible  that  we  should  go  back  to  the  paganism 
from  which  Christianity  has  liberated  us. 
There  is  no  danger  of  our  going  back  to  pre¬ 
cisely  the  old  forms  of  that  paganism.  Yet  we 
must  remember  that  human  nature  is  always  the 
same,  and  that  mere  culture  will  not  save  us. 


Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief.  277 

We  have  no  greater  nor  as  great  poets  as  Horace 
and  Virgil,  no  greater  nor  as  great  orators  as 
Cicero,  no  greater  moralist  outside  the  pale  of 
Christianity  than  Seneca,  and  yet  they  could 
not  save  society  from  the  civilized  barbarism 
of  paganism. 

We  must  remember  that  though  the  new  re¬ 
ligion  of  the  future  of  which  some  men  dream 
may  not  be  called  paganism,  it  is  paganism  un¬ 
der  another  name.  We  occasionally  hear  of  the 
“religion  of  humanity.”  What  is  this  but  pa¬ 
ganism,  which  deified  all  that  was  true  and 
beautiful  and  good  with  all  that  was  vile  in  our 
nature,  and  called  these  things  by  various 
names,  the  deities  of  its  religion?  If  any  one 
whispered  to  the  infidel  philosophers  of  France 
who  sought  the  destruction  of  the  Christian  re¬ 
ligion  that  the  day  would  come  when  they  would 
find  themselves  worshipping  at  a  pagan  altar, 
they  would  have  smiled  in  derision.  But  false 
principles  soon  act  themselves  out  into  institu¬ 
tions.  Human  reason  was  deified,  and  the  god¬ 
dess  of  reason — a  dancing  girl  of  Paris — stood 
on  the  high  altar  of  Hotre  Dame,  a  fit  symbol 
of  the  prostituted  reason  that  ruled  the  hour. 
But  after  a  time  some  philosopher  might  say: 
“Why  not  a  goddess  of  love,  a  power  stronger 
than  reason  and  more  universal  in  its  influ¬ 
ence  ?”  We  will  not  call  her  Venus,  because 


273  Causes  and  Cure  of  Unbelief. 

that  would  sound  like  old  paganism.  "We  wrill 
call  her  glorious  “Human  Love.”  “But,” 
cries  out  another,  “we  should,  above  all,  have 
a  god  of  spotless  French  Honor,  and  another  of 
Military  Glory,”  and  so  on  through  the  whole 
range  of  human  passions,  good  and  bad,  until 
the  Pantheon  should  be  complete.  Man  is  a 
religious  being.  If  he  worship  not  God,  he  will 
worship  himself.  Deny  the  doctrines  of  faith, 
and  you  try  to  kill  Christianity  and  establish 
some  form  of  paganism. 

In  the  name  of  our  Christian  civilization  I, 
a  Bishop  of  the  Christian  Church,  lift  up  my 
voice  to  warn  the  representative  men  who  hear 
me  that  the  popular  modern  system  of  teaching 
morality  without  the  doctrines  that  motive  it, 
whether  that  system  he  called  Christian  ethics 
or  moral  instruction,  or  unsectarian  teaching,  is 
sapping  the  very  foundations  of  Christianity 
and  Christian  civilization. 


LIST  OF  USEFUL  BOOKS  AND  PAMPHLETS  ON 
THIS  AND  KINDRED  SUBJECTS 
THESE  CAN  BE  PROCURED  THROUGH  ANY 

BOOK  DEALER 


THE  FAITH  OF  OUR  FATHERS.  By  Cardinal  Gibbons. 
SHORT  ANSWERS  TO  POPULAR  OBJECTIONS  AGAINST 
RELIGION.  Segur.  Revised  by  Father  Lambert. 

IS  ONE  RELIGION  AS  GOOD  AS  ANOTHER?  Edited  by 

FfitliGr  y  A r ^  hi 

CHURCH  AND  THE  REPUBLIC.  By  Cardinal  Gibbons. 

WHO  CAN  FORGIVE  SINS?  By  Rev.  P.  J.  Danehy. 

WHY  I  BECAME  A  CATHOLIC.  By  Hon.  Henry  C.  Dillon. 

This  is  an  outline  of  the  reasons  which  led  Mr.  Dillon,  a 
prominent  lawyer  of  Los  Angeles,  to  become  a  Catholic. 
TREATISE  ON  THE  SACRAMENT  OF  EXTREME  UNC¬ 
TION.  By  Rev.  P.  J.  Hanley. 

THE  EXISTENCE  OF  GOD.  By  Rev.  R.  F.  Clarke,  S.J. 
WHAT  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IS,  AND  WHAT  SHE 
TEACHES.  By  Ernest  R.  Hull,  S.J. 

THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  REFORMATION.  By  C.  F.  B. 
Allnatt. 

THE  POPE:  HOW  FAR  DOES  HE  CONTROL  CONSCIENCE? 
HOW  FAR  DOES  HE  INTERFERE  WITH  CITIZEN¬ 
SHIP?  200  pages. 

WHAT  CATHOLICS  DO  NOT  BELIEVE.  By  Most  Rev.  P.  J. 
Ryan,  D.D. 

A  most  eloquent  and  masterly  discourse  on  the  subject  of 
Catholic  doctrine.  Though  specially  intended  for  non-Cath- 
olics,  it  cannot  fail  to  instruct  and  edify  Catholics.  In  his 
introduction  the  Archbishop  says :  “I  have  given  to  this 
lecture  the  title,  ‘What  Catholics  Do  Not  Believe,’  because  its 
primary  object  is  to  remove  certain  prejudices  against  the 
Church  founded  on  what  ‘we  do  not  believe.’  The  positive 
side  of  the  question — what  we  do  really  believe  on  these 
points — will  be  found  stated  in  every  instance,  in  replying  to 
objections.” 

TO  WHOM  SHALL  WE  GO?  By  Rev.  C.  Van  de  Ven.  23 
pages. 

Rome  plain  questions  and  answers  about  the  true  religion. 
A  pamphlet  very  useful  to  point  out  to  an  inquiring  mind  the 
way  to  the  Church. 

THE  VOICE  OF  THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD.  DOES  IT  LIVE? 

AND  WHERE?  By  Rev.  Edmund  Hill,  C.P.  25  pages. 
RELIGIOUS  UNREST.  The  Way  Out.  By  James  P.  Lafferty. 
PLAIN  FACTS  FOR  FAIR  MINDS.  By  Rev.  George  M. 
SgstIg  Paulist 

THE  HOLY  GHOST  AND  THE  CHURCH.  By  Cardinal 
Manning. 

A  BRIEF  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 

From  the  Creation  of  the  World  to  the  Present  Time. 
CONFESSION  TO  A  PRIEST.  By  Rev.  W.  H.  Anderson,  S.J. 

1 — What  it  is  not.  2 — What  it  does  to  society.  3 — What 
to  the  individual. 


WHERE  IS  THE  CHURCH?  By  Rev.  C.  Coupe,  S.J. 

THE  RELIGION  OF  A  TRAVELER.  By  Cardinal  Manning. 
76  pages. 

This  is  accounted  to  be  one  of  the  best  bits  of  controversial 
literature  in  English — clear,  trenchant  and  masterly,  as  was 
the  mind  of  the  author. 

HOLY  MASS.  By  Mother  Loyola. 

INDIFFERENTISM.  By  Rev.  Charles  Coupe,  S.J. 

A  protest  against  the  spirit  of  the  age,  which  is  declared 
to  be  one  of  lawless  liberalism  in  religion,  and  a  tendency 
to  minimize  the  importance  of  dogma  and  principle.  The 
popular  theory  that  if  a  man  is  upright  and  attends  to  the 
ordinary  duties  of  life,  it  matters  not  what  creed  he  holds, 
is  shown  to  be  fallacious. 

CHURCH  OR  BIBLE.  By  Rev.  Arnold  Damen,  S.J. 

Who  has  not  heard  of  Father  Damen,  the  Jesuit  mis¬ 
sionary?  It  is  conservatively  estimated  that  he  received  ten 
thousand  converts  into  the  Church  during  his  fifty  years  of 
missionary  labor.  The  above  pamphlet  summarizes  his  argu¬ 
ments  which  awakened  those  souls  to  serious  thought,  showed 
them  how  unstable  was  the  foundation  upon  which  they  were 
building. 

WHY  I  BECAME  A  CATHOLIC.  By  Horace  E.  Chap¬ 
man,  M.A. 

JOSEPH  SLATTERY:  THE  ROMANCE  OF  AN  UN¬ 
FROCKED  PRIEST. 

CREDO.  By  Mother  Loyola. 

THE  PROTESTANT  RULE  OF  FAITH  AN  IMPOSSIBLE 
ONE.  By  Monsignor  John  S.  Vaughan. 

HENRY  VIII  AND  THE  ENGLISH  MONASTERIES.  By 
Cardinal  Manning. 

REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CATHOLIC.  By  E.  H. 

HOW  TO  SEEK  FOR  THE  TRUE  CHURCH.  By  Mgr.  John 
S.  Vaughan. 

WHERE  IS  THE  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST? 

WHY  I  LEFT  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND.  By  James 
Britten,  Hon.  Sec.  Catholic  Truth  Society. 

THE  AWFUL  DISCLOSURES  OF  MARIA  MONK. 

THE  INQUIRER’S  CATECHISM.  “Lead,  Kindly  Light.” 

SHORT  COURSE  IN  CATHOLIC  DOCTRINE  FOR  NON¬ 
CATHOLICS  INTENDING  MARRIAGE  WITH  CATH¬ 
OLICS. 

THE  REAL  PRESENCE.  By  Rev.  C.  F.  Smarius,  S.J. 

IS  THERE  SALVATION  OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH?  By  Mgr. 
Vaughan. 

No  truth  of  the  Catholic  faith  is  more  repugnant  to  those 
outside  the  fold  than  the  well-known  dictum,  “Outside  the 
Church  there  is  no  salvation.”  If,  however,  this  brochure  of 
Mgr.  Vaughan  would  be  widely  read,  this  prejudice  would 
vanish. 

UNBELIEF  A  SIN.  By  the  Rev.  Edmund  Hill,  C.  P.  16 
pages. 

FAITH  AND  REASON.  By  Rev.  Bernard  Vaughan,  S.J. 
THOUGHTS  FOR  ALL  TIMES.  By  Mgr.  J.  S.  Vaughan. 
JESUS  OF  NAZARETH:  THE  STORY  OF  HIS  LIFE.  By 
Mother  Loyola. 


LIFE  OF 

St.  Vincent  de  Paul 

By  REV.  CHARLES  MALOY,  C.M. 


Paper  Edition  -  Retail,  $0.20  ;  net,  $0.16 

Cloth  -  -  Retail,  $0.35 ;  net.  $0.28 

1  -3  off  on  quantities 


In  the  opinion  of  the  best  critics  this  is  the  most  popu¬ 
lar,  the  most  unctuous,  and  the  most  readable  life  of  St. 
Vincent  that  has  yet  appeared.  After  years  spent  in  the 
careful  study  of  fourteen  histories  of  St.  Vincent,  Father 
Maloy  has  become  a  fit  instrument  for  placing  before  the 
public  a  much-needed  and  greatly  appreciated  work — namely, 
a  concise  and  practical  account  of  the  life,  labors  and  virtues 
of  the  great  apostle  of  charity. 

A  prominent  member  of  the  Conference  of  St.  Vincent  de 
Paul  said :  “This  book  is  precisely  what  we  want  in  order 
to  make  the  works  of  the  Conference  better  known  and  to 
create  more  interest  in  them.” 

“Just  what  we  need  to  increase  the  number  of  vocations 
in  our  community. — Sisters  of  Providence . 

Cardinal  Vaughan  highly  praises  the  larger  Life  of  St. 
Vincent,  by  Bishop  Bougaud,  from  which  much  of  the  matter 
of  this  book  has  been  taken. 

The  Cardinal  says :  “This  Life  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul 
will  be  of  value  to  bishops,  superiors  and  ecclesiastical 
students,  because  it  contains  so  much  that  directly  concerns 
the  training  and  mission  of  the  priesthood.  It  will  be  of 
use  also  to  the  devout  laity  if  it  incite  them  also  to  address 
frequent  and  fervent  prayer  to  God  for  the  sanctification  of 
the  clergy.  Sicut  populus  sic  Sacerdos.  If  the  fathers  and 
mothers  of  families  form  a  high  ideal  of  the  priesthood,  if 
they  inspire  it  into  their  children,  if  they  foster  it  dur¬ 
ing  the  years  of  the  education  of  their  sons,  they  will  render 
incalculable  service  to  the  Church.  .  .  Now,  from  no 

biography  will  they  better  learn  what  the  priesthood  ought  to 
be  than  from  the  Life  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul.” — Herbert 
Cardinal  Vaughan. 

FOR  SALE  BY  PUBLISHERS  OF  THIS  BOOK 


Most  Serviceable  for  Teachers,  and  an  Admirable 
Gift=Book  for  First  Communicants 

FIRST  COMMUNION 

The  Dublin  Review  says: 

“The  second  edition  of  a  book  within  a  year  is  its  best 
recommendation.  In  addition  to  this  fact,  we  gladly 
testify  that  the  work  before  us  deserves  all  the  praise  be¬ 
stowed  upon  it  by  the  Catholic  press  of  England,  Ireland 
and  America,  and  that  it  really  rendered  to  us  the  service 
which  the  Right  Rev.  Bishops  of  Newport  and  Birming¬ 
ham  expected  it  would  render  to  the  instructors  of  first 
communicants.  .  .  .  After  having  it  used  for  some 
weeks  both  last  year  and  this  year,  we  can  say  that  its 
reading  before  the  lesson  is  an  excellent  preparation  for 
the  instructor,  and  that  the  use  of  its  language  and  its 
context  is  a  powerful  means  to  touch  the  hearts  of  the 
little  ones.” 

The  Irish  Ecclesiastical  Record  says : 

“This  is  a  child’s  book  and  a  delightful  one.  It  should 
have  a  prominent  place  in  the  spiritual  library  of  every 
Catholic  home,  as  it  is  written  in  such  a  fashion  as  to 
interest,  instruct  and  deeply  move  the  most  untutored 
mind  and  the  least  reverent  heart.  Being  intended  for  the 
young,  it  is  likewise  for  the  old,  because  the  charm  of 
simplicity  and  the  kind  intensity  of  a  sincerely  written 
word  are  qualities  whose  appeal  is  still  and  ever  must  be 
unlimited.  Father  and  son,  mother  and  daughter,  will 
dwell  lovingly  on  these  innocent  pages,  every  passage  of 
which  brims  with  wisdom  and  love  and  piety.  The  illus¬ 
trations  are  many  and  good  ;  the  frontispiece  is  a  fine  re¬ 
production  of  an  exquisite  piece  of  art.” 

“We  are  much  mistaken  if,  like  other  well-written  chil¬ 
dren’s  books,  this  does  not  prove  even  more  fascinating  to 
their  elders,  and  if  in  those  who  use  it  for  the  instruction 
of  others  there  remain  not  an  abiding  memory  of  what 
they  have  gained  from  it  themselves.  .  .  .  The  reader 

will,  we  hope,  be  inclined  to  endorse  the  verdict  delivered 
by  one  of  the  youthful  audience  to  whom  the  book  di¬ 
rectly  appeals,  ‘Oh,  let  us  have  First  Communion,  it’s  such 
a  talky  book.’  ” 


Vocations  Explained 

Matrimony,  Virginity,  the  Religious 
State,  the  Priesthood 

BY  A  VINCENTIAN  FATHER 

16mo.t  Flexible  Cloth,  10  cents  each ;  per  100,  $5.00. 

APPROBATIONS 


Host  Rev.  Sebastian  Martinelli,  I>.  I>.,  Apostolic  Del¬ 
egate;  “I  was  very  glad  in  reading  them  to  find  out  that  you 
follow,  in  this  serious  point,  the  doctrine  taught  by  St.  Alphonsus 
Liguori.  ...  So  I  think  your  work  will  be  of  great  utility  and 
help  to  young  people.  .  .  .  ” 

Most  Rev.  Wan.  H.  Gross,  D.  R.,  Archbishop  of  Oregon; 

.  “  I  am  very  glad  you  have  published  a  work  on  a  subject  so  grave 
as  ‘  Vocations.’  .  ,  .  Your  work  is  very  opportune.  .  .  .” 

Host  Rev.  Fr.  X.  Hatzer,  1).  I).,  Archbishop  ©f  Mil¬ 
waukee:  “In  the  hands  of  our  young  it  is  certainly  apt  to  do 
a  great  deal  of  good.  ” 

Right  Rev.  W.  M.  Wigger,  D.  I).,  Bishop  of  Newark; 

“  I  have  carefully  read  the  little  book  entitled  ‘  Vocations  Ex- 

Flained.’  .  .  ,  If  it  were  introduced  into  the  Catholic  schools, 
am  confident  it  would  do  much  good  among  the  children.” 
Right  Rev.  Ignatius  F.  llorstmann,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of 
Cleveland  ;  “  As  I  gave  my  approbation  to  the  larger  Catechism 
on  Vocations,  I  cheerfully  do  the  same  for  *  Vocations  Explained. 
.  .  .  What  is  said  about  mixed  marriages  is  most  timely.” 
Right  Rev.  L.  De  Gocsbriand,  I).  ]).,  Bishop  of  Bur- 
lington  :  “  Excellent — excellent.” 

Right  Rev.  James  McGoIrick,  I).  D.,  Bishop  of  Dnlnth; 
”  You  have  written  a  most  useful  book.  .  ,  .  It  will  be  of  great 
use  in  all  our  schools,  for  a  clear,  accurate  statement  about  voca¬ 
tions  is  very  much  needed.” 

Bight  Rev.  James  Ryan,  R.  R„  Bishop  of  Alton  :  “  A  val¬ 
uable  and  timely  treatise,  calculated  to  do  much  good.” 

Right  Rev.  L.  Scanlan,  R.  D.,  Bishop  of  Salt  T.ake  :  “  I 
bave  read  the  little  volume  with  great  pleasure  and  interest,  and  I 
must  add  that  I  have  received  therefrom  no  small  amount  of  in¬ 
struction.  I  consider  it  a  very  useful  and  instruetve  book  for  all.” 
Right  Rev,  John  Moore,  D.  B.,  Bishop  of  .St.  Augustine: 
“  .  .  .1  consider  it  very  good  and  very  useful  in  guiding  the 
teachers  of  the  young  in  this  delicate  matter.  ...  I  shall 
recommend  its  use  to  the  sisters  who  have  charge  of  the  schools  in 
this  diocese.  ,  .  ” 

Right  Rev.  James  A.  McFanl,  R.  B.,  Bishop  of  Trenton: 

”...  I  am  confident  that  it  will  be  a  faithful  guide  to  every 
one  who  is  anxious  to  find  his  true  place  in  the  divine  plan  of  re¬ 
demption.” 

FOR  SALE  BY  ALL  CATHOLIC  BOOKSELLERS 


WELCOME 


Holy  Communion: 
Before  and  After 


In  his  Preface  to  this  admirable  book,  Father  Thurston 
says:  “Our  moods  are  very  various.  Our  thoughts  about 
God  and  our  own  souls  are  often  more  entangled  than  our 
ideas  about  anything  in  the  world.  The  spiritual  guide 
who  helps  us  most  is  he  who  can  interpret  ourselves  to 
ourselves ;  and  to  nobody  do  we  feel  a  deeper  gratitude 
than  to  one  who  can  put  into  simple  words  the  vague  long¬ 
ings  after  good  which  we  know  not  how  to  utter  in  any 
form  that  satisfies  us.  .  .  .  Those  who  use  this  little 

book  will  find  it  both  immediately  and  permanently  helpful 
as  an  aid  to  their  devotion  in  Holy  Communion.” 

A  reader  of  Mother  Loyola’s  works  says:  “Welcome 
has  done  me  more  good  than  any  book  that  I  have  ever 
read.” 

A  Spiritual  Director  says:  “I  find  Welcome  most  useful 
for  myself  and  for  the  direction  of  others.  It  is  a  most 
timely  book,  now  that  our  Holy  Father  has  so  urgently 
recommended  frequent  and  daily  Communion.” 


WORKS  BY 

Mother  Mary  Loyola 


FIRST  COMMUNION.  Serviceable  for  Teachers 

and  for  First  Communicants,  net .  $1.25 

QUESTIONS  ON  “FIRST  COMMUNION,”  net...  .30 

MASS  FOR  “FIRST  COMMUNION,”  net . 05 

THE  CHILD  OF  GOD,  OR  WHAT  COMES  OF 

OUR  BAPTISM.  Cloth,  net .  1.00 

THE  SOLDIER  OF  CHRIST,  OR  TALKS  BE¬ 
FORE  CONFIRMATION  .  1.35 

WELCOME!  BEFORE  HOLY  COMMUNION 
AND  AFTER.  Leather,  net,  $1.75.  Cloth,  net,  1.00 
CONFESSION  AND  COMMUNTON.  For  the  Use 
of  Religious,  and  those  who  Communicate  fre¬ 
quently,  net  . 45 

CORAM  SANCTISSIMO.  Visits  to  the  Blessed 

Sacrament.  Cloth,  net . 45 

HAIL,  FULL  OF  GRACE,  SIMPLE  THOUGHTS 

ON  THE  ROSARY,  net .  1.35 

FIRST  CONFESSION.  A  book  in  very  simple  lan¬ 
guage,  intended  as  a  help  to  teachers  in  the  prep¬ 
aration  of  young  children  for  this  important  duty, 

net  . 40 

A  FTRST  CONFESSION  BOOK,  net . 05 

FORGIVE  US  OUR  TRESPASSES.  Talks  before 
Confession  for  Elder  Children.  Cloth,  illus¬ 
trated,  net  . 55 

A  SIMPLE  CONFESSION  BOOK,  net . 05 

A  SIMPLE  COMMUNION  BOOK,  net . 05 

A  SIMPLE  CONFIRMATION  BOOK,  net . 05 

CREDO.  A  Simple  Exposition  of  the  Chief  Points 

of  Catholic  Doctrine,  net . 05 


FOR  SALE  BY 


ALL  CATHOLIC  BOOKSELLERS 


CARDINAL  GIBBONS 

ON 

Thoughts  for  AH  Times 

BY 

MONSIGNOR  VAUGHAN 


"The  human  heart  is  captivated  more  readily  and  more 
effectually  by  love  than  by  fear. 

"It  is  true  that  ‘the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of 
wisdom,’  yet  it  is  only  the  Beginning ;  for  love  is  the  Com¬ 
pletion  of  wisdom :  ‘perfect  charity  casteth  out  fear,  because 
fear  hath  pain,  and  he  that  feareth  is  not  perfected  in 

charity’  (1  John  4:18). 

‘‘Many  persons  find  the  service  of  God  very  hard  and  the 
way  of  salvation  difficult,  because  they  do  not  love  God  ;  and 
they  do  not  love  Him  because  they  do  not  know  Him.  ‘He 

that  loveth  not,  knoweth  not  God ;  for  God  is  charity’ 

(1  John  4:8). 

"Whoever  throws  light  on  this  powerful  and  magnetic 
principle  of  love  smooths  the  way  of  salvation  for  thousands, 
and  becomes  a  great  benefactor  of  mankind.  This  the  Right 
Rev.  Monsignor  Vaughan  has  done  in  his'  excellent  work, 

‘Thoughts  for  All  Times.’  From  this  truly  valuable  book  the 
reader  gets  a  deeper  insight  into  the  meaning  of  the  words  of 
the  beloved  disciple,  ‘Let  us  love  God,  because  God  first  hath 
loved  us’  (1  John  4:  19). 

"After  giving  convincing  proofs  of  the  intensity  of  God’s 
love  for  us,  the  Right  Rev.  Author  beautifully  explains  the 
consoling  principle  of  God’s  personal  and  concentrated  love 
for  each  one  of  us  individually;  for  St.  Paul  says:  ‘He  hath 
loved  me,  and  delivered  Himself  for  me/  ” — Cardinal  Gibbons. 

"The  Right  Rev.  Author  meets  the  wants  of  our  times  in 
a  manner  as  consoling  as  it  is  convincing.” — Catholic  Citizen. 

"It  needs  only  to  be  known  to  have  its  merits  appreciated.” 
— Catholic  Standard  and  Times. 

"The  main  principle  pervading  ‘Thoughts  for  All  Times’ 
readily  finds  an  echo  in  every  human  heart ;  namely,  the 
principle  of  love.” — Catholic  Tribune. 

"When  a  book  has  critical  prefaces  by  such  eminent  men 
as  Bishop  Hedley  and  Cardinal  Gibbons  there  is  little  left  to 
the  reviewer  to  say  in  its  praise.” — Catholic  News. 

“A  book  of  striking  and  lucid  analogies.  One  cannot  fail 
to  be  first  struck  by  the  author’s  faculty  of  throwing  light 
on  supernatural  things  by  means  of  the  simplest  and  most 
ordinary  occurrences  in  the  natural  order.” — The  Catholic 
Universe. 

"Monsigncr  Vaughan’s  book  will  have  a  large  number  of 
readers.” — The  Western  Watchman. 

"This  is  a  work  of  great  beauty  and  interest — an  assured 
success.” — The  Dublin  Review. 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH 


The  Story  of  His  Life  Simply  Told 

BY 

MOTHER  MARY  LOYOLA 


“The  book  is  eminently  adapted  to  strengthen  faith  in  Our 
Lord’s  Divinity  and  to  draw  to  Him  the  hearts  of  children.  I 
most  willingly  recommend  the  book  to  Christian  parents. 
They  will  find  it  most  useful  in  the  difficult  task  of  training 

their  children  in  the  fear  and  love  of  God.” — Most  Rev.  D. 

Falconio,  Apostolic  Delegate. 

“The  book  is  eminently  practical,  simple,  unctuous  and 
interesting.  It  will  make  a  powerful  impression  on  the 
minds  of  children.  In  fact,  no  one  can  read  it  without  loving 
God  more,  and  therefore  becoming  better.” — Cardinal  Gibbons. 

“I  have  read  it  through,  and  am  pleased  to  recommend  it 

to  all  our  people.  It  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  Lives  of 

Our  Blessed  Lord  I  have  met,  especially  for  young  people.” 
— Archbishop  Farley. 

“I  have  gone  through  it  from  cover  to  cover,  and  in  closing 
the  book  to-night  my  first  act  is  to  tell  how  much  I  would 
desire  to  see  it  in  the  hands  of  our  Catholic  people  as  a 
treasure-trove  of  their  homes.” — Bishop  Beaven. 

“I  most  cordially  recommend  the  admirable  book,  ‘Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  the  Story  of  His  Life.’  The  study  of  the  life 
of  Our  Lord  is  the  most  important  and  sanctifying  of  all 
studies  ;  for  ‘This  is  eternal  life,  that  they  may  know  thee, 
the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom  thou  hast  sent’ 
(John  17 :  3).  It  is  a  book  for  all  to  read.” — Archbishop 
Ryan. 

“I  hope  it  will  be  adopted  by  our  Catholic  schools.” — 
Archbishop  Christie. 

“Teachers  in  Catholic  schools  and  colleges  will  contribute 
much  to  the  religious  formation  of  their  pupils  by  putting 
this  volume  into  their  hands.” — Archbishop  Ireland. 

“It  is  charming.” — Bishop  Fox. 

"I  like  it  very  much.  I  will  ask  our  Mission  Band  to 
recommend  it  on  their  missions.” — Bishop  Tierney. 

“Mother  Loyola’s  latest  work,  ‘Jesus  of  Nazareth,’  crowns 
all  her  works.” — Bishop  Grace. 


Price,  72  cents  ^postage,  11  cents);  six  copies  and  upwards,  57 
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Is  One  Religion  as  Good 
as  Another  ? 

BY 

REV.  JOHN  MacLAUGHUN 


AMERICAN  EDITION 

EDITED  BY 

REV.  L.  A.  LAMBERT,  LL  D. 


When  the  foreign  edition  of  this  book  appeared  some 
years  ago,  it  caused  a  great  furor  among  non-Catholics. 
This  American  edition  will  cause  a  still  greater  furor 
among  some  people,  on  account  of  its  logical  and  up-to- 
date  arguments,  and  also  on  account  of  the  renown  and 
well-known  ability  of  the  Editor.  By  others,  however, 
this  edition  will  be  more  welcomely  received,  because  many 
non-Catholic  minds  of  to-day  are  becoming  more  and  more 
dissatisfied  with  Protestantism,  and  are  anxious  to  find 
something  better.  Among  this  latter  class  this  little  book 
will  cause  many  conversions.  Among  other  classes,  if  it 
does  not  cause  conversion  of  the  will,  it  certainly  will 
bring  conviction  to  the  intellect,  because  the  clear  logic  of 
the  arguments  is  irresistible,  and  the  well  adapted  Scrip¬ 
ture  texts  are  overpowering. 

The  Dublin  Reviezv. 

“This  is  a  book  that  is  wanted.  The  arguments  are  put 
forth  with  great  clearness  and  force,  and  to  any  honest 
reader  will  appear  irresistible.” 

The  Whitehall  Reviezv,  London  (non-Catholic)  : 

“It  is  plain,  straightforward  reasoning  from  stem  to 
stern.” 

A  well-known  educator  says :  "One  way  to  appreciate 
Father  Lambert’s  merits  is  to  circulate  his  writings.” 

Retail  price,  15  cents;  wholesale  price,  $7.50  per  100. 


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